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Books > Humanities > Archaeology
The Roman Remains of Brittany, Normandy and the Loire Valley is the
third in a series of companion guides. The only specialist
guidebook to the region, it provides context to many sites that
deserve to be better known, some only recently conserved for the
public. There are plenty of places to chose from: fifty-four
treated at length plus fourteen shorter entries. There is an
extended chapter dealing with the historical background and two
feature sections. The book is easy to use as there are a large
number of maps, plans and colour photographs. To ensure accuracy,
the author personally followed aqueduct routes, visited hidden
temples, admired ramparts, and visited all the museums. Through his
writing a visit is transformed into an experience.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
This practical introductory guide explains what archaeoastronomy is
and gives advice for the beginner in the subject about how to check
the astronomy of a prehistoric site. * Contains evidence for
archaeoastronomy from around the world * Explains the role of
archaeologists * Gives a simple introduction to solar and lunar
astronomy * Lists the key dates to visit ancient sites * Explains
why alignments have slightly altered over the centuries *
Emphasises the links with ancient sea-faring and navigation *
Encourages readers to adopt their own site for further research
What does archaeology tell us about Jesus and the world in which he
lived? How accurate are the Gospel accounts of first-century
Galilee and Judea? Has the tomb of Jesus really been found?
Informed by the latest archaeological research, and illustrated
throughout with photographs of key findings, this fascinating book
opens up the subject for people of all religious backgrounds. It
will help readers gain a much clearer and more accurate picture of
life in the Roman world during first century, and enable them to
understand and critique the latest theories - both sober and
sensational - about who Jesus was and what he stood for.
A bold reassessment of what caused the Late Bronze Age collapse In
1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded
Egypt. The pharaoh's army and navy managed to defeat them, but the
victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did
most of the surrounding civilizations. After centuries of
brilliance, the civilized world of the Bronze Age came to an abrupt
and cataclysmic end. Kingdoms fell like dominoes over the course of
just a few decades. No more Minoans or Mycenaeans. No more Trojans,
Hittites, or Babylonians. The thriving economy and cultures of the
late second millennium B.C., which had stretched from Greece to
Egypt and Mesopotamia, suddenly ceased to exist, along with writing
systems, technology, and monumental architecture. But the Sea
Peoples alone could not have caused such widespread breakdown. How
did it happen? In this major new account of the causes of this
"First Dark Ages," Eric Cline tells the gripping story of how the
end was brought about by multiple interconnected failures, ranging
from invasion and revolt to earthquakes, drought, and the cutting
of international trade routes. Bringing to life the vibrant
multicultural world of these great civilizations, he draws a
sweeping panorama of the empires and globalized peoples of the Late
Bronze Age and shows that it was their very interdependence that
hastened their dramatic collapse and ushered in a dark age that
lasted centuries. A compelling combination of narrative and the
latest scholarship, 1177 B.C. sheds new light on the complex ties
that gave rise to, and ultimately destroyed, the flourishing
civilizations of the Late Bronze Age-and that set the stage for the
emergence of classical Greece.
Gordion is frequently remembered as the location of an intricate
knot ultimately cut by Alexander, but in antiquity it served as the
center of the Phrygian kingdom that ruled much of Asia Minor during
the early millennium B.C.E. The site lies approximately seventy
kilometers southeast of Ankara in central Turkey, at the
intersection of the great empires of the East (Assyrians,
Babylonians, and Hittites) and the West (Greeks and Romans).
Consequently, it occupied a strategic position on nearly all trade
routes that linked the Mediterranean and the Near East. The
University of Pennsylvania has been excavating at Gordion since
1950, unearthing a wide range of discoveries that span nearly four
millennia. The vast majority of these artifacts attests to the
city's interactions with the other great kingdoms and city states
of the Near East during the Iron Age and Archaic periods (ca.
950-540 B.C.E.), especially Assyria, Urartu, Persia, Lydia, Greece,
and the Neo-Hittite city-states of North Syria, among others.
Gordion is thus the ideal centerpiece of an exhibition dealing with
Anatolia and its neighbors during the first millennium B.C.E.
Through a special agreement signed between the Republic of Turkey
and the University of Pennsylvania, Turkey has loaned the Penn
Museum more than one hundred artifacts gathered from four museums
in Turkey (Ankara, Gordion, Istanbul, and Antalya) for an
exhibition titled The Golden Age of King Midas. The exhibition
features most of the material recovered in Tumulus MM, or the
"Midas Mound" (ca. 740 B.C.E.), which was the burial site of King
Midas's father, as well as a number of objects found in a series of
Lydian tombs. The Turkish loan has made possible a uniquely
comprehensive and elaborate exhibition that also features a
disparate group of rarely seen objects from the Penn Museum's own
collections, particularly from sites in the Ukraine, Iran, Iraq,
Turkey, and Greece. With the historic King Midas (ca. 740-700
B.C.E.) as its guiding theme, the exhibition illuminates the
relationships Phrygia maintained with Lydia, Persia, Assyria, and
Greece. The accompanying catalog includes full-color illustrations
and essays that expound on the sites and objects of the exhibition.
'A definitive classic field guide [...] Its scope is as magnificent
as our countryside itself.' BBC Countryfile Magazine 'This book is
perfect for anyone who's travelled through the countryside,
scratched their head, and thought, 'what on earth is that thing?'''
Tony Robinson Have you ever driven past a lumpy, bumpy field and
wondered what made the lumps and bumps? Or walked between two lines
of grand trees and wondered when and why they were planted?
Entertaining and factually rigorous, Hidden Histories has the
answers and will help you decipher the story of Britain's landscape
through the features you can see around you. In this spotter's
guide, Mary-Ann Ochota arms amateur explorers with the crucial
information needed to understand the landscape and spot the human
activities that have shaped our green and pleasant land.
Photographs and diagrams point out specific details and typical
examples to help the curious spotter understand what they're
looking at, or looking for. Specially commissioned illustrations
bring to life the processes that shaped the landscape (from
medieval ploughing to Roman road building). Stand-alone capsules
explore interesting aspects of history (like the Highland
Clearances or the coming of Christianity). Feature boxes provide
definitions of jargon or handy references as required (like a
glossary of what different field names mean). Each chapter
culminates in a checklist of key details to look for, other things
it might be, and gives details of where to find some of the best
examples in Britain. From lumps and bumps to stones, lines and
villages, Hidden Histories is the must-have spotter's guide to the
British landscape.
Sudan, now split into the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of
South Sudan, boasts a rich cultural heritage that has in recent
years become the increasing focus of an international community of
archaeologists, anthropologists and historians. This volume brings
together papers presented at the Third Sudan Studies Annual
Conference, a unique forum for interdisciplinary work.
Do shifts in material culture instigate administrative change, or
is it the shifting political winds that affect material culture?
This is the central question that Shlomit Bechar addresses in this
book, taking the transition from the Middle to Late Bronze Age
(seventeenth-fourteenth centuries BCE) in northern Canaan as a test
case. Combining archaeological and historical analysis, Bechar
identifies the most significant changes evident in architectural
and ceramic remains from this period and then explores how and why
contemporary political shifts may have influenced, or been
influenced by, these developments. Bechar persuasively argues that
the Egyptian conquest of the southern Levant-enabled by local
economic decline following the expulsion of the Hyksos and the fall
of northern Syrian cities-was the impetus for these changes in
ceramics and architecture. Using a macro-typological approach to
examine the ceramic assemblages, she also discusses the impact of
the influx of Aegean imports, suggesting that while "attached
specialists" were primarily responsible for ceramic production in
the Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age ceramics were increasingly
made by "independent specialists," another important result of the
new administrative system created following Thutmose III's
campaign. An important contribution to our understanding of the
transition between the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, this original
and insightful book will appeal to specialists in the Bronze Age
Levant, especially those interested in using ceramic assemblages to
examine social and political change.
How do you predict eclipses at Stonehenge? Why do the Carnac
alignments follow geological fault lines? Was Avebury intentionally
sited precisely one seventh of a circle down from the north pole?
Why are so many stone circles egg-shaped or flattened? What is the
meaning of the designs in ancient rock art? Do you really have to
wait nineteen years to visit the remote site of Callanish? What
were the ancients up to? These are our oldest buildings, our first
messages, our earliest visual art. With eight authors, and packed
with detailed information and exquisite rare illustrations,
Megalith is a timeless and valuable sourcebook for anyone
interested in prehistory.
Who were the First Americans? Where did they come from? When did
they get here? Are they the ancestors of modern Native Americans?
These questions might seem straightforward, but scientists in
competing fields have failed to convince one another with their
theories and evidence, much less Native American peoples. The
practice of science in its search for the First Americans is a
flawed endeavor, Robert V. Davis tells us. His book is an effort to
explain why. Most American history textbooks today teach that the
First Americans migrated to North America on foot from East Asia
over a land bridge during the last ice age, 12,000 to 13,000 years
ago. In fact, that theory hardly represents the scientific
consensus, and it has never won many Native adherents. In many
ways, attempts to identify the first Americans embody the conflicts
in American society between accepting the practical usefulness of
science and honoring cultural values. Davis explores how the
contested definition of "First Americans" reflects the unsettled
status of Native traditional knowledge, scientific theories,
research methodologies, and public policy as they vie with one
another for legitimacy in modern America. In this light he
considers the traditional beliefs of Native Americans about their
origins; the struggle for primacy-or even recognition as
science-between the disciplines of anthropology and archaeology;
and the mediating, interacting, and sometimes opposing influences
of external authorities such as government agencies, universities,
museums, and the press. Fossil remains from Mesa Verde, Clovis, and
other sites testify to the presence of First Americans. What
remains unsettled, as The Search for the First Americans makes
clear, is not only who these people were, where they came from, and
when, but also the very nature and practice of the science
searching for answers.
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