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Books > Humanities > Archaeology > Archaeology by period / region
Years before Jamestown was settled, European adventurers and explorers landed on the shores of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts in search of fame, fortune, and souls to convert to Christianity. Unbeknownst to them all, the 'New World' they had found was actually a very old one, as the history of the native people spanned 10,000 years or more. This work is a compilation of old and new essays written by present-day archaeologists, by explorers and missionaries who were in direct contact with the Indians, and by scholars over the last three centuries. The essays are in three sections: Prehistory, which concentrates on the Paleo-Indian, Archaic, and Woodland phases of the native heritage, the Contact Era, which deals with the explorers and their experiences in the New World, and Collections, Sites, Trails, and Names, which focuses on various dedications to the native population and significant names (such as the Massabesic Trail and the Cohas Brook site).
The first book to ever examine ancient Roman traffic, this well-illustrated volume looks in detail at the construction of Roman road, and studies the myriad of road users of the Roman Empire: civilians, wagons and animals, the cursus publicus, commercial use and the army. Through this examination, Cornelis van Tilburg reveals much of town planning in ancient cities: the narrow paths of older cities, and the wider, chessboard-patterned streets designed to sustain heavy traffic. He discusses toll points and city gates as measures taken to hamper traffic, and concludes with a discussion as to why the local governments' attempts to regulate the traffic flow missed their targets of improving the infrastructure. This book will interest any student, scholar or enthusiast in Roman history and culture.
The study of the prehistory of East Asia is developing very rapidly. In uncovering the story of the flows of human migration that constituted the peopling of East Asia there exists widespread debate about the nature of evidence and the tools for correlating results from different disciplines. Drawing upon the latest evidence in genetics, linguistics and archaeology, this exciting new book examines the history of the peopling of East Asia, and investigates the ways in which we can detect migration, and its different markers in these fields of inquiry. Results from different academic disciplines are compared and reinterpreted in the light of evidence from others to attempt to try and generate consensus on methodology. Taking a broad geographical focus, the book also draws attention to the roles of minority peoples - hitherto underplayed in accounts of the region's prehistory - such as the Austronesian, Tai-Kadai and Altaic speakers, whose contribution to the regional culture is now becoming accepted. Past Human Migrations in East Asia presents a full picture of the latest research on the peopling of East Asia, and will be of interest to scholars of all disciplines working on the reconstruction of the peopling of East and North East Asia.
Roman-Period and Byzantine Nazareth and its Hinterland presents a new social and economic interpretation of Roman-period and Byzantine Nazareth and its hinterland as a whole, showing the transformation of a Roman-period Jewish village into a major Byzantine Christian pilgrimage centre. Although Nazareth is one of the most famous places in the world, this is the first book on Roman-period and Byzantine Nazareth by a professional archaeologist, the only book to consider the archaeology of Nazareth in the context of its adjacent landscape, and the first to use contemporary archaeological methods and theory to explore Nazareth's archaeology. Taking as his starting point a systematic survey of the valley between Nazareth and the Roman town of Sepphoris, Dark offers an interpretation of communities elsewhere in the Roman world as networks of interlocking cells, with interactions along routeways being more important in cultural and economic terms than the relationship between urban centres and their surrounding countryside. His conclusions have implications for the wider archaeology of the Roman and Byzantine worlds, as well as for archaeological theory, and demonstrate the importance of Nazareth to world archaeology. This unique book will be invaluable to those interested in Nazareth and its surrounding landscape, as well as to archaeologists and scholars of the Roman and Byzantine worlds.
Mayan culture is known for its spectacular art, impressive architecture, and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems, the archaeological study of which has undergone a revolution during the past twenty years. There are now more than 5,000 different Maya archaeological sites and those in Mexico's Yucatan Pensinsula are among the most visited and studied as they include the spectacular sites of Chichen Itza and Uxmal. The Ancient Maya of Mexico presents the results of these new and important archaeological, epigraphic, and art historical studies in the Mexican states of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo to a broad audience of scholars and students. The volume consists of original and timely contributions by experts whose presentations are intended to be lively and approachable so as to be accessible and of particular use to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as to more advanced scholars. The organization of the volume is chronological (from the Middle Preclassic to colonial and modern periods), so that readers will understand how new data and interpretations have changed the whole of our understanding of Maya history.
This book presents for the first time a history of Eretria during the Archaic Era, the city's most notable period of political importance and Keith Walker examines all the major elements of the city's success. One of the key factors explored is Eretria's role as a pioneer coloniser in both the Levant and the West - its early Aegaen 'island empire' anticipates that of Athens by more than a century, and Eretrian shipping and trade was similarly widespread. Eretria's major, indeed dominant, role in the events of central Greece in the last half of the sixth century, and in the events of the Ionian Revolt to 490 is clearly demonstrated, and the tyranny of Diagoras (c.538-509), perhaps the golden age of the city, is fully examined. Full documentation of literary, epigraphic and archaeological sources (most of which has previously been inaccessible to an English speaking-audience) is provided, creating a fascinating history and valuable resource for the Greek historian.
In his classic account of the antiquities of Jordan, Gerald Harding writes with an erudition based upon a lifetimeis knowledge of the region, describing all the major sites of interest in the country. Some of the most remarkable and famous sites in the world, from Petra, the unique Nabataean city hewn from sandstone, to Mafjar, the most elaborately planned and lavishly decorated Umayyad palace in the Middle East, with the largest single area of ancient mosaic in the world, lie within Jordan or the West Bank. Archaeological evidence of human occupation exists from Palaeolithic times until the Bronze Age when much of Jordan's history may be adduced from the stories of the Old Testament. The area was subjugated by the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Arabs whose houses, palaces, theatres and castles often provide the principal surviving evidence of these peoples: Jericho, the oldest city in the world, where remarkable statues of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period were found; Jerash, a large and comprehensive Roman city on the fringe of the desert, only rediscovered in 1806; huge Crusader castles like Qalat al Rabadh and Shobak; and Khirbat Qumran, site of the Essene settlement and of the Dead Sea Scrolls with whose discovery the author was intimately involved. The Antiquities of Jordan remains an invaluable and absorbing guide for students of Middle Eastern archaeology, as well as for those who know Jordan or who wish to visit the country.
Flint Trade in the Protohistoric Levant offers an in-depth case study of the production and exchange of tabular scrapers. Crossing cultural and ecological boundaries and traded from the desert to the settled zone, these tools encompassed both ritual and quotidian functions over the course of well over the two millennia of the existence of the exchange system. Analyses focus on the changing nature of the production systems, dynamics of value in changing contexts of production and use, ritual contexts and meaning. Extending throughout the Levant, the tabular scraper complex is compared and contrasted to other contemporary production and exchange systems (ceramics, chipped stone, ground stone, copper, beads), offering a rich picture of the complexities of late prehistoric trade, transcending linear evolutionary frameworks, and simple models. Adopting a chaine operatoire approach to the use-life of the artifacts, the artifacts can be seen to transform over time and place, made, used, recycled, and ultimately discarded, each stage in its own cultural contexts. The rise and decline of this exchange complex reflects both the geo-political history of the region and the general role of lithic industries in these societies. Focusing on late prehistoric times in the Near East, the discussions will of relevance to all researchers interested in the role of exchange in the evolution of complex economies. It offers an analysis of exchange systems based on a matrix of factors which should be of interest to all researchers interested in the evolution of trade.
Archaeologists are increasingly aware of issues of gender when studying past societies; women are becoming better represented within the discipline and are attaining top academic posts. However, until now there has been no study undertaken of the history of women in European archaeology and their contribution to the development of the discipline. Excavating Women discusses the careers of women archaeologists such as Dorothy Garrod, Hanna Rydh and Marija Gimbutas, who against all odds became famous, as well as the many lesser-known personalities who did important archaeological work. The collection spans the earliest days of archaeology as a discipline to the present, telling the stories of women from Scandinavia, Mediterranean Europe, Britain, France, Germany and Poland. The chapters examine women's contributions to archaeology in the context of other, often socio-political, factors that affected their lives. It examines issues such as women's increased involvement in archaeological work during and after the two World Wars, and why so many women found it more acceptable to work outside of their native lands. This critical assessment of women in archaeology makes a major contribution to the history of archaeology. It reveals how selective the archaeological world has been in recognizing the contributions of those who have shaped its discipline, and how it has been particularly inclined to ignore the achievements of women archaeologists. Excavating Women is essential reading for all students, teachers and researchers in archaeology who are interested in the history of their discipline and its sociopolitics.
The Routledge Handbook of the Archaeology of Indigenous-Colonial Interaction in the Americas brings together scholars from across the hemisphere to examine how archaeology can highlight the myriad ways that Indigenous people have negotiated colonial systems from the fifteenth century through to today. The contributions offer a comprehensive look at where the archaeology of colonialism has been and where it is heading. Geographically diverse case studies highlight longstanding theoretical and methodological issues as well as emerging topics in the field. The organization of chapters by key issues and topics, rather than by geography, fosters exploration of the commonalities and contrasts between historical contingencies and scholarly interpretations. Throughout the volume, Indigenous and non-Indigenous contributors grapple with the continued colonial nature of archaeology and highlight Native perspectives on the potential of using archaeology to remember and tell colonial histories. This volume is the ideal starting point for students interested in how archaeology can illuminate Indigenous agency in colonial settings. Professionals, including academic and cultural resource management archaeologists, will find it a convenient reference for a range of topics related to the archaeology of colonialism in the Americas.
This illustrated book introduces serious students of Anglo-Saxon culture to selected aspects of the realities of Anglo-Saxon life through reference to artefacts and textual sources. Everyday practices and processes are investigated, such as the exploitation of animals for clothing, meat, cheese and parchment; ships for travel, trade and transport; manufacturing processes of metalwork; textiles for dress and furnishing and the practicalities of living with illness or disability. Articles collected in this volume illuminate how an understanding of the material culture of the daily Anglo-Saxon world can inform reading and scholarship in Anglo-Saxon studies. Scholarly and practical material presented inform one another, making the book accessible to any reader seriously interested in England in the early Middle Ages.
It may be surprising to learn that this book is the first ever survey of the Atlantic Iron Age: this tradition is cited in archaeology frequently enough to seem firmly established, yet has never been clearly defined.With this book, Jon Henderson provides an important and much-needed exploration of the archaeology of western areas of Britain, Ireland, France and Spain to consider how far Atlantic Iron Age communities were in contact with each other. By examining the evidence for settlement and maritime trade, as well as aspects of the material culture of each area, Henderson identifies distinct Atlantic social identities through time. He also pinpoints areas of similarity: the possibility of cultural 'cross-pollination' caused by maritime links and to what extent these contacts influenced and altered the distinctive character of local communities. A major theme running through the book is the role of the Atlantic seaboard itself and what impact this unique environment had on the ways Atlantic communities perceived themselves and their place in the world. As a history of these communities unfolds, a general archaeological Atlantic identity breaks down into a range of regional identities which compare interestingly with each other and with traditional models of Celtic identity. Bringing together the Iron Age settlement evidence for the Atlantic regions in one place for the first time, this excellent and original book is certain to establish itself as the definitive study of the Atlantic Iron Age.
The papers in this book question the tyranny of typological thinking in archaeology through case studies from various South American countries (Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil) and Antarctica. They aim to show that typologies are unavoidable (they are, after all, the way to create networks that give meanings to symbols) but that their tyranny can be overcome if they are used from a critical, heuristic and non-prescriptive stance: critical because the complacent attitude towards their tyranny is replaced by a militant stance against it; heuristic because they are used as means to reach alternative and suggestive interpretations but not as ultimate and definite destinies; and non-prescriptive because instead of using them as threads to follow they are rather used as constitutive parts of more complex and connective fabrics. The papers included in the book are diverse in temporal and locational terms. They cover from so called Formative societies in lowland Venezuela to Inca-related ones in Bolivia; from the coastal shell middens of Brazil to the megalithic sculptors of SW Colombia. Yet, the papers are related. They have in common their shared rejection of established, naturalized typologies that constrain the way archaeologists see, forcing their interpretations into well known and predictable conclusions. Their imaginative interpretative proposals flee from the secure comfort of venerable typologies, many suspicious because of their association with colonial political narratives. Instead, the authors propose novel ways of dealing with archaeological data.
The first and only monograph available on the subject, The Roman City and its Periphery offers a full and detailed treatment of the little-investigated aspect of Roman urbanism - the phenomenon of suburban development. Presenting archaeological and literary evidence alongside sixty-three plans of cities, building plans, and photographs, Penelope Goodman examines how and why Roman suburbs grew up outside Roman cities, what was distinctive about the nature of suburban development, and what contributions buildings and activities in the suburbs might make to the character and function of the city as a whole. With full bibliography and annotations throughout, this will not only provide a coherent treatment of an essential theme for students of Roman urbanism, but archaeologists, urban planners and geographers also, will have an excellent comparative tool in the study of modern urbanism.
Originally published in 1956, the well-known archaeologist here takes on the role of philosopher. The author argues that knowledge is a social phenomenon, and that our intellectual life is the product of social heritage: reality is the product of different opinions of various societies.
The archaeological remains in the Gulf area are astounding, and still relatively unexplored. Michael Rice has produced the first up-to-date book, which encompasses all the recent work in the area. He shows that the Gulf has been a major channel of commerce for millenia, and that its ancient culture was rich and complex, to be counted with its great contempororaries in Sumer, Egypt and south-west Persia.
A long-overdue advancement in ceramic studies, this volume sheds new light on the adoption and dispersal of pottery by non-agricultural societies of prehistoric Eurasia. Major contributions from Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia make this a truly international work that brings together different theories and material for the first time. Researchers and scholars studying the origins and dispersal of pottery, the prehistoric peoples or Eurasia, and flow of ancient technologies will all benefit from this book.
Using archaeology and social anthropology, and more than 100 original line drawings and photographs, An Archaeology of Images takes a fresh look at how ancient images of both people and animals were used in the Iron Age and Roman societies of Europe, 600 BC to AD 400 and investigates the various meanings with which images may have been imbued. The book challenges the usual interpretation of statues, reliefs and figurines as passive things to be looked at or worshipped, and reveals them instead as active artefacts designed to be used, handled and broken. It is made clear that the placing of images in temples or graves may not have been the only episode in their biographies, and a single image may have gone through several existences before its working life was over. Miranda Aldhouse Green examines a wide range of other issues, from gender and identity to foreignness, enmity and captivity, as well as the significance of the materials used to make the images. The result is a comprehensive survey of the multifarious functions and experiences of images in the communities that produced and consumed them. Challenging many previously held assumptions about the meaning and significance of Celtic and Roman art, An Archaeology of Images will be controversial yet essential reading for anyone interested in this area.
In early Christianity it was established that every church should have a light burning on the altar at all times. In this unique study, Eternal light and earthly concerns, looks at the material and social consequences of maintaining these 'eternal' lights. It investigates how the cost of lighting was met across western Europe throughout the whole of the Middle Ages, revealing the social organisation that was built up around maintaining the lights in the belief that burning them reduced the time spent in Purgatory. When that belief collapsed in the Reformation the eternal lights were summarily extinguished. The history of the lights thus offers not only a new account of change in medieval Europe, but also a sustained examination of the relationship between materiality and belief. -- .
'A warp-speed tour of dinosaurs, with an expert guide' PROF. STEVE BRUSATTE, bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs 'A fun, speedy read for grown-ups who love dinosaurs - a great way to get into the subject' PROF. MICHAEL BENTON, author of The Dinosaurs Rediscovered --------- Travel back to the prehistoric world and discover the most fascinating parts of the lives of Earth's most awe-inspiring creatures - the dinosaurs. Dr Dean Lomax brings these prehistoric creatures to life in ten bite-sized essays, written for people short on time but not curiosity. Making big ideas simple, Dean takes readers on a journey to uncover what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur, what dinosaurs ate, how they evolved, what caused them to go extinct, and more! Perfect for anyone fascinated by the dinosaur exhibits at museums, palaeontology and fans of Jurassic Park. --------- 'An eminently accessible read...a perfect primer (or refresher) for dino fans and newbies, yet doesn't skimp on the fascinating details that make 21st-century palaeontology so vibrant' DR REBECCA WRAGG SYKES, author of Kindred
Winner of ASOR's 2022 G. Ernest Wright Award for the most substantial volume dealing with archaeological material, excavation reports and material culture from the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean. This is a complete history of Antioch, one of the most significant major cities of the eastern Mediterranean and a crossroads for the Silk Road, from its foundation by the Seleucids, through Roman rule, the rise of Christianity, Islamic and Byzantine conquests, to the Crusades and beyond. Antioch has typically been treated as a city whose classical glory faded permanently amid a series of natural disasters and foreign invasions in the sixth and seventh centuries CE. Such studies have obstructed the view of Antioch's fascinating urban transformations from classical to medieval to modern city and the processes behind these transformations. Through its comprehensive blend of textual sources and new archaeological data reanalyzed from Princeton's 1930s excavations and recent discoveries, this book offers unprecedented insights into the complete history of Antioch, recreating the lives of the people who lived in it and focusing on the factors that affected them during the evolution of its remarkable cityscape. While Antioch's built environment is central, the book also utilizes landscape archaeological work to consider the city in relation to its hinterland, and numismatic evidence to explore its economics. The outmoded portrait of Antioch as a sadly perished classical city par excellence gives way to one in which it shines as brightly in its medieval Islamic, Byzantine, and Crusader incarnations. Antioch: A History offers a new portal to researching this long-lasting city and is also suitable for a wide variety of teaching needs, both undergraduate and graduate, in the fields of classics, history, urban studies, archaeology, Silk Road studies, and Near Eastern/Middle Eastern studies. Just as importantly, its clarity makes it attractive for, and accessible to, a general readership outside the framework of formal instruction.
Although the literature of Ancient Egypt is comparatively poorly known compared to its art and architectural achievements, it has been the subject of intense study for almost 200 years, and constitutes one of the earliest literary traditions produced anywhere in the world. This book brings together work from many of the main researchers in the field of Ancient Egyptian literature, and reviews the numerous developments in the theoretical framework of interpretation more recently. The field of literary studies has witnessed a rapid development. The application of more theoretically informed approaches to the ancient literary corpus, and a more detailed analysis of context, form, and reception, have fundamentally challenged the interpretative paradigms that formerly held sway. These papers enable many of the foremost researchers in the field to examine the overall state of work on the subject. Beginning with contributions from scholars working in the literatures of other ancient cultures (Mesopotamian, Old Testament, Classical), the book covers a wide range of Ancient Egyptian uses of written culture, with contributions covering the Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian, and Demotic language stages. There are also contributions touching on genre, performance, intertextuality, biography, monumental context, and reception. The papers demonstrate the broad range of approaches currently used in interpreting Ancient Egyptian texts, and attest to the ongoing vitality of this field of study.
This book provides the first truly comprehensive multi-period study of the archaeology of Ethiopia, surveying the country's history, detailing the discoveries from the late Stone Age, including the famous 'Lucy' and moving onto the emergence of food production, prehistoric rock art and an analysis of the increasing social complexity that can be observed from the remains of the first nucleated settlements. The author then discusses the Aksumite empire, the emergence of Christianity in the Middle Ages and Ethiopia's encounters with the west, leading up to the feudal Ethiopia of the twentieth century and the present day. This book is an excellent and very readable story of the rich heritage of this very misunderstood country.
Rome in the Pyrenees is a unique treatment in English of the archaeological and historical evidence for an important Roman town in Gaul, Lugdunum in the French Pyrenees, and for its surrounding people the Convenae. The book opens with the creation of the Convenae by Pompey the Great in the first century B.C. and runs down to the great Frankish siege in A.D. 585 and its aftermath. Now the town of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, Lugdunum is one of the best-known Roman towns in Gaul, with a rich selection of monuments at the town itself and important remains in the countryside, such as the classic villa at Montmaurin or the votive altars, cinerary caskets and sarcophagi in the local marble. The book traces how the Convenae used their marble to help create their identity, invisible before Pompey but amongst the richest and most distinctive in Gaul by the second century A.D. Drawing on his own excavations at Saint-Bertrand and the extensive earlier and recent work there, Simon Esmonde Cleary combines a clear description of the buildings and monuments of Lugdunum and of its countryside with a discussion of what they can tell us about the impact of Rome on this remote corner of its empire. This book will be extremely valuable to ancient historians, classicists and students of Roman archaeology, and contains a guide to the visible Roman remains of the area.
Assembling Past Worlds draws on new materialism and the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze to explore the potential for a posthumanist archaeology. Through specific empirical study, this book provides a detailed analysis of Neolithic Britain, a critical moment in the emergence of new ways of living, as well as new relationships between materials, people and new forms of architecture. It achieves two things. First, it identifies the major challenges that archaeology faces in the light of current theoretical shifts. New ideas place new demands on how we write and think about the past, sometimes in ways that can seem contradictory. This volume identifies seven major challenges that have emerged and sets out why they matter, why archaeology needs to engage with them and how they can be dealt with through an innovative theoretical approach. Second, it explores how this approach meets these challenges through an in-depth study of Neolithic Britain. It provides an insightful diagnosis of the issues posed by current archaeological thought and is the first volume to apply the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze to the extended analysis of a single period. Assembling Past Worlds shows how new approaches are transforming our understandings of past worlds and, in so doing, how we can meet the challenges facing archaeology today. It will be of interest to both students and researchers in archaeological theory and the Neolithic of Europe. |
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