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Books > Humanities > Archaeology > Archaeology by period / region > European archaeology
This is a collection of essays, by leading international scholars, on the history of the Greek theatre, and on the wider context of festival culture in which theatrical activity took place in the Greek world. The emphasis is on the documentary material - inscriptions, archaeological remains and monuments - which provides so much of our 'hard' evidence for the activities of the theatre. Much of the important material discussed here is unknown except to specialists, and these studies offer access to its interpretation to a wider audience. They cover a wide range of time and place, from the earliest days of the Greek theatre to the Roman period, with special emphasis on the neglected Hellenistic period, which is especially rich in documentary evidence.
Greece in the Making 1200?479 BC is an accessible and comprehensive account of Greek history from the end of the Bronze Age to the Classical Period. The first edition of this book broke new ground by acknowledging that, barring a small number of archaic poems and inscriptions, the majority of our literary evidence for archaic Greece reported only what later writers wanted to tell, and so was subject to systematic selection and distortion. This book offers a narrative which acknowledges the later traditions, as traditions, but insists that we must primarily confront the contemporary evidence, which is in large part archaeological and art historical, and must make sense of it in its own terms. In this second edition, as well as updating the text to take account of recent scholarship and re-ordering, Robin Osborne has addressed more explicitly the weaknesses and unsustainable interpretations which the first edition chose merely to pass over. He now spells out why this book features no ?rise of the polis? and no ?colonization?, and why the treatment of Greek settlement abroad is necessarily spread over various chapters. Students and teachers alike will particularly appreciate the enhanced discussion of economic history and the more systematic treatment of issues of gender and sexuality.
Rituals, Collapse, and Radical Transformation in Archaic States explores the role of ritual in a variety of archaic states and generates discussion on how the decline in a state's ability to continue in its current form affected the practices of ritual and how ritual as a culture-forming dynamic affected decline, collapse, and regeneration of the state. Chapters examine ritual in collapsing and regenerating archaic states from diverse locations, time periods, and societies including Crete, Mycenean and Byzantine Greece, Mesopotamia, India, Africa, Mexico, and Peru. Underscoring similarities in a variety of archaic states in the role of ritual during periods of threat, collapse, and transformation, the volume shows how ritual can be used as a stabilizing or divisive force or a connecting medium between the present to the past in an empowering way. It also highlights the diversity of ritual roles and location in similar situations and illustrates how states in close proximity and sharing many cultural similarities can respond differently through ritual to stress and contrast the different response in rural and urban settings. Through detailed, cultural specific studies, the book provides a nuanced understanding of the diverse roles of ritual in the decline, collapse, and regeneration of societies and will be important for all archaeologists involved in the important notions of state "collapse" and "regeneration".
The original research papers in this volume represent the first attempt to address issues of gender in the archaeology of Italy. Ranging from prehistoric to early classic periods, the authors address theoretical and methodological issues, as well as present a series of cases using both traditional and feminist research methods.
This book transforms archaeological knowledge of Nazareth by publishing over 80 years of archaeological work at the Sisters of Nazareth convent, including a detailed re-investigation in the early twenty-first century under the author's direction. Although one of the world's most famous places and of key importance to understanding early Christianity, Nazareth has attracted little archaeological attention. Following a chance discovery in the 1880s, the site was initially explored by the nuns of the convent themselves - one of the earliest examples of a major programme of excavations initiated and directed by women - and then for decades by Henri Senes, whose excavations (like those of the nuns) have remained almost entirely unpublished. Their work revealed a complex sequence, elucidated and dated by twenty-first century study, beginning with a partly rock-cut Early Roman-period domestic building, followed by Roman-period quarrying and burial, a well-preserved cave-church, and major surface-level Byzantine and Crusader churches. The interpretation and broader implications of each phase of activity are discussed in the context of recent studies of Roman-period, Byzantine, and later archaeology and contemporary archaeological theory, and their relationship to written accounts of Nazareth is also assessed. The Sisters of Nazareth Convent provides a crucial archaeological study for those wishing to understand the archaeology of Nazareth and its place in early Christianity and beyond.
Roman Britain: A Sourcebook has established itself as the only comprehensive collection of source material on the subject. It incorporates literary, numismatic and epigraphic evidence for the history of Britain under Roman rule, as well as translations of major literary sources. This new edition includes not only recently discovered material, but also the texts of Caesar's commentaries on his expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC, as well as relevant sections of Tacitus? biography of his father-in-law, former governor of Britain. The inclusion of these pivotal texts, which provide the most detailed account of the Romans campaigns in Britain, significantly underlies the volume's usefulness to all students of Roman Britain. Though most of the material is arranged chronologically, there are also thematic sections on geography, religion and social and economic activity. Each section is prefaced by an introductory note, and the inclusion of illustrations and maps enhances the attractiveness of this updated collection as a teaching tool and a work of reference.
Roman Britain: A Sourcebook has established itself as the only comprehensive collection of source material on the subject. It incorporates literary, numismatic and epigraphic evidence for the history of Britain under Roman rule, as well as translations of major literary sources. This new edition includes not only recently discovered material, but also the texts of Caesar 's commentaries on his expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC, as well as relevant sections of Tacitus biography of his father-in-law, former governor of Britain. The inclusion of these pivotal texts, which provide the most detailed account of the Romans campaigns in Britain, significantly underlies the volume 's usefulness to all students of Roman Britain. Though most of the material is arranged chronologically, there are also thematic sections on geography, religion and social and economic activity. Each section is prefaced by an introductory note, and the inclusion of illustrations and maps enhances the attractiveness of this updated collection as a teaching tool and a work of reference.
The village of Faxton in Northamptonshire was only finally deserted in the second half of the 20th century. Shortly afterwards, between 1966 and 1968, its medieval crofts were investigated under the direction of archaeologist Lawrence Butler. At the time this was one of the most ambitious excavations of a deserted medieval settlement to have been conducted and, although the results were only published as interim reports and summaries, Butler's observations at Faxton were to have significant influence on the growing academic and popular literature about village origins and desertion and the nature of medieval peasant crofts and buildings. In contrast to regions with abundant building stone, Faxton revealed archaeological evidence of a long tradition of earthen architecture in which so-called 'mud-walling' was successfully combined with other structural materials. The 'rescue' excavations at Faxton were originally promoted by the Deserted Medieval Village Research Group and funded by the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works after the extensive earthworks at the site came under threat from agriculture. Three areas were excavated covering seven crofts. In 1966 Croft 29 at the south-east corner of the village green revealed a single croft in detail with its barns, yards and corn driers; in 1967 four crofts were examined together in the north-west corner of the village in an area badly damaged by recent ploughing and, finally, an area immediately east of the church was opened up in 1968. In all, some 4000m2 were investigated in 140 days over three seasons. The post-excavation process for Faxton was beset by delay. Of the 12 chapters presented in this monograph, only two were substantially complete at the time of the director's death in 2014. The others have had to be pieced together from interim summaries, partial manuscripts, sound recordings, handwritten notes and on-site records. Building on this evidence, a new team of scholars have re-considered the findings in order to set the excavations at Faxton into the wider context of modern research. Their texts reflect on the settlement's disputed pre-Conquest origins, probable later re-planning and expansion, the reasons behind the decline and abandonment of the village, the extraordinary story behind the destruction of its church, the development of the open fields and the enclosure process, as well as new evidence about Faxton's buildings and the finds discovered there. Once lauded, then forgotten, the excavations at Faxton now make a new contribution to our knowledge of medieval life and landscape in the East Midlands.
In this wide-ranging and often controversial book, Robert Drews examines the question of the origins of man's relations with the horse. He questions the belief that on the Eurasian steppes men were riding in battle as early as 4000 BC, and suggests that it was not until around 900 BC that men anywhere - whether in the Near East and the Aegean or on the steppes of Asia - were proficient enough to handle a bow, sword or spear while on horseback. After establishing when, where, and most importantly why good riding began, Drews goes on to show how riding raiders terrorized the civilized world in the seventh century BC, and how central cavalry was to the success of the Median and Persian empires. Drawing on archaeological, iconographic and textual evidence, this is the first book devoted to the question of when horseback riders became important in combat. Comprehensively illustrated, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of civilization in Eurasia, and the development of man's military relationship with the horse.
This exciting new guide is the ideal companion to Greece if you are
a traveller with historical and archaeological interests, as it
combines practical information with impeccable scholarly
research.
In this first study of the Greek and Roman exploration for over half a century, Duane W. Roller presents an important examination of the impact of the Greeks and Romans on the world through the Pillars of Herakles and beyond the Mediterranean. Roller chronicles a detailed account of the series of explorers who were to discover the entire Atlantic coast; north to Iceland, Scandinavia and the Baltic, and south into the Africa tropics. His account examines these early pioneers and their discoveries, and contributes a brand new chapter to the history of exploration. Based not only on the literary evidence, but also personal knowledge of the areas from the Arctic to west Africa, the book looks at the people, from the earliest Greeks, through the Carthaginians to the Romans, and examines their exploration of this vast and largely unfamiliar territory. Discussing for the first time the relevance of Iceland and the Arctic to Greco-Roman culture, this groundbreaking work is an enthralling and informative read that will be an invaluable study resource for Greek and Roman history courses
Ritual is a fascinating subject, with a tendency to set the imagination racing and raise expectations for exciting treatment. Minoan archaeology and more particularly the so-called "peak sanctuaries" have been the object of much such interest and speculation, but also of considerable creative research. In this book, Evangelos Kyriakidis rigorously assesses old and new ideas about these sanctuaries, testing and enriching such ideas by connecting them with the extant material and underpinning them with a solid theoretical basis. General theoretical issues such as the attribution of ritual value to a prehistoric activity, the assessment of degrees of ritual establishment and the creation of ritual institutions are developed with the peak sanctuary material in mind. The results are then compared and contrasted to other studies on the social and political dynamics of Minoan Crete, providing a new insight into ritual in the area as a whole.
Through the close study of texts, Roman Imperial Identities in the Early Christian Era examines the overlapping emphases and themes of two cosmopolitan and multiethnic cultural identities emerging in the early centuries CE - a trans-empire alliance of the Elite and the "Christians." Exploring the cultural representations of these social identities, Judith Perkins shows that they converge around an array of shared themes: violence, the body, prisons, courts, and time. Locating Christian representations within their historical context and in dialogue with other contemporary representations, it asks why do Christian representations share certain emphases? To what do they respond, and to whom might they appeal? For example, does the increasing Christian emphasis on a fully material human resurrection in the early centuries, respond to the evolution of a harsher and more status based judicial system? Judith Perkins argues that Christians were so successful in suppressing their social identity as inhabitants of the Roman Empire, that historical documents and testimony have been sequestered as "Christian" rather than recognized as evidence for the social dynamics enacted during the period, Her discussion offers a stimulating survey of interest to students of ancient narrative, cultural studies and gender.
The period from the death of Alexander the Great to the rise of the Islam (c. late fourth century BCE to seventh century CE) saw a significant growth in economic, diplomatic and cultural exchange between various civilisations in Africa, Europe and Asia. This was in large part thanks to the Indian Ocean trade. Peoples living in the Roman Empire, Parthia, India and South East Asia increasingly had access to exotic foreign products, while the lands from which they derived, and the peoples inhabiting these lands, also captured the imagination, finding expression in a number of literary and poetic works. The Indian Ocean Trade in Antiquity provides a range of chapters that explore the economic, political and cultural impact of this trade on these diverse societies, written by international experts working in the fields of Classics, Archaeology, South Asian studies, Near Eastern studies and Art History. The three major themes of the book are the development of this trade, how consumption and exchange impacted on societal developments, and how the Indian Ocean trade influenced the literary creations of Graeco-Roman and Indian authors. This volume will be of interest not only to academics and students of antiquity, but also to scholars working on later periods of Indian Ocean history who will find this work a valuable resource.
This source book offers a comprehensive treatment of solitary religious lives in England in the late Middle Ages. It covers both enclosed recluses (anchorites) and free-wandering hermits, and explores the relationship between them. Although there has been a recent surge of interest in the solitary vocations, especially anchorites, this has focused almost exclusively on a small number of examples. The field is in need of reinvigoration, and this book provides it. Featuring translated extracts from a wide range of Latin, Middle English and Old French sources, as well as a scholarly introduction and commentary from one of the foremost experts in the field, Hermits and anchorites in England is an invaluable resource for students and lecturers alike. -- .
This book brings together the cumulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblies and administrative systems of Scandinavia, Britain, and the North Atlantic islands in the 1st and 2nd millennia AD. In this volume we integrate a wide range of historical, cartographic, archaeological, field-based, and onomastic data pertaining to early medieval and medieval administrative practices, geographies, and places of assembly in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, and eastern England. This transnational perspective has enabled a new understanding of the development of power structures in early medieval northern Europe and the maturation of these systems in later centuries under royal control. In a series of richly illustrated chapters, we explore the emergence and development of mechanisms for consensus. We begin with a historiographical exploration of assembly research that sets the intellectual agenda for the chapters that follow. We then examine the emergence and development of the thing in Scandinavia and its export to the lands colonised by the Norse. We consider more broadly how assembly practices may have developed at a local level, yet played a significant role in the consolidation, and at times regulation, of elite power structures. Presenting a fresh perspective on the agency and power of the thing and cognate types of local and regional assembly, this interdisciplinary volume provides an invaluable, in-depth insight into the people, places, laws, and consensual structures that shaped the early medieval and medieval kingdoms of northern Europe.
Chromatius of Aquileia and the Making of a Christian City examines how the increasing authority of institutionalized churches changed late antique urban environments. Aquileia, the third largest city in Italy during late antiquity, presents a case study in the transformation of elite Roman practices in relation to the urban environment. Through the archaeological remains, the sermons of the city's bishop, Chromatius, and the artwork and epigraphic evidence in the sacred buildings, the city and its inhabitants leave insights into a reshaping of the urban environment and its institutions which occurred at the beginning of the 5th century. The words of the bishop attacking heretics and Jews presaged a shift in patronage by rich donors from the city as a whole to only the Christian church. The city, both as an ideal and a physical reality, changed with the growing dominance of the Church, creating a Christian city.
The village of Faxton in Northamptonshire was only finally deserted in the second half of the 20th century. Shortly afterwards, between 1966 and 1968, its medieval crofts were investigated under the direction of archaeologist Lawrence Butler. At the time this was one of the most ambitious excavations of a deserted medieval settlement to have been conducted and, although the results were only published as interim reports and summaries, Butler's observations at Faxton were to have significant influence on the growing academic and popular literature about village origins and desertion and the nature of medieval peasant crofts and buildings. In contrast to regions with abundant building stone, Faxton revealed archaeological evidence of a long tradition of earthen architecture in which so-called 'mud-walling' was successfully combined with other structural materials. The 'rescue' excavations at Faxton were originally promoted by the Deserted Medieval Village Research Group and funded by the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works after the extensive earthworks at the site came under threat from agriculture. Three areas were excavated covering seven crofts. In 1966 Croft 29 at the south-east corner of the village green revealed a single croft in detail with its barns, yards and corn driers; in 1967 four crofts were examined together in the north-west corner of the village in an area badly damaged by recent ploughing and, finally, an area immediately east of the church was opened up in 1968. In all, some 4000m2 were investigated in 140 days over three seasons. The post-excavation process for Faxton was beset by delay. Of the 12 chapters presented in this monograph, only two were substantially complete at the time of the director's death in 2014. The others have had to be pieced together from interim summaries, partial manuscripts, sound recordings, handwritten notes and on-site records. Building on this evidence, a new team of scholars have re-considered the findings in order to set the excavations at Faxton into the wider context of modern research. Their texts reflect on the settlement's disputed pre-Conquest origins, probable later re-planning and expansion, the reasons behind the decline and abandonment of the village, the extraordinary story behind the destruction of its church, the development of the open fields and the enclosure process, as well as new evidence about Faxton's buildings and the finds discovered there. Once lauded, then forgotten, the excavations at Faxton now make a new contribution to our knowledge of medieval life and landscape in the East Midlands.
The papers in this collection explore the medieval art, architecture, and archaeology of the city of Mainz and of the middle Rhine valley. They were delivered in 2003, at the first annual conference the Association held in Germany. The contributors embrace a wide range of subjects. Some consider the architecture and archaeology of the early medieval and Romanesque period, including the Carolingian monastery of Lorsch and the cathedrals of Mainz, Speyer, and Worms. Other authors look at high and late Gothic architecture in the region, such as the collegiate church at Oppenheim and the Wernerkapelle at Bacherach. There are, moreover, papers on castle architecture, sculpture, panel painting, liturgical furnishings, and medieval inscriptions. At the centre of discussion stand questions of cult, patronage, iconography, and style. New light is shed particularly on the relationship between the art and architecture in the Rhine valley and France. This collection brings together British, German, and French scholars to discuss the art and architecture of this major centre of artistic creation in medieval Europe and will hopefully be of lasting value to scholarship.
First published in 1928, this volume contains six sequential lectures delivered by H.R. Hall in 1923 detailing the archaeological remains of Bronze Age Greece. Hall was keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities in the British Museum and author of 'The Ancient History of the Near East'. Each of the author's lectures was strictly chronological, with the main feature of each period being described in order. The profuse illustrations recreated here were fundamental to his view, with each Age defined through its art, pottery and stone carvings. These printed lectures follow their spoken counterparts closely and are brought to life with 320 illustrations inserted in places which reflect the original performances.
Please note: This product is a map. It was more than just a wall: it was a whole military zone designed to control movement across the northern frontier of the Roman province of Britannia. Great earthwork barriers survive, along with the remains of forts and temporary camps; watch-towers and fortified gates; civilian settlements, temples, cemeteries, bath-houses, roads and bridges. Stretching across the spine of England from the North-East coast to the Irish Sea, the line of the frontier extends for over 100 miles through every type of landscape: from the streets of urban Tyneside, through arable fields; along the crags of the wild Whin Sill; to the sands of the Solway, and down the coast of Cumbria. Drawing upon the extensive expertise and unrivalled archives of English Heritage, and those of its partners, this map depicts the fruits of modern archaeological research: in field survey, geophysics, excavation, and the analysis of aerial photographs. Using Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 data - the ideal scale for walkers - this revised new map shows with great clarity all the elements of Hadrian's Wall, and distinguishes between those features that are visible and those that have been levelled through time. A brief text explains the remains on the ground, and how to use the map to find them - including the museums and the best places to visit. This World Heritage Site is now more accessible than ever before, so see the landscape through new eyes.
For almost three hundred years, excavations have been carried out in Roman Bath. At first these were rare and sporadic and archaeological finds were made by chance. Even fewer were reported. But from the 1860s, deliberate investigations were made and increasingly professional methods employed. The Roman Baths were laid open to view, but little was published. From the 1950s, interest accelerated, professionals and amateurs collaborated, and there was never a decade in which some new discovery was not made. The first popular but authoritative presentation of this work was made in 1971 and updated several times. However, from the 1990s to the present there has been some sort of archaeological investigation almost every year. This has thrown much new and unexpected light on the town of Aquae Sulis and its citizens. In this book, Peter Davenport, having been involved in most of the archaeological work in Bath since 1980, attempts to tell the story of Roman Bath: the latest interim report on the 'Three Hundred Year Dig'.
Examining the final years of Delphic consultation, this monograph argues that the sanctuary operated on two connected, yet distinct levels: the oracle, which was in decline, and the remaining religious, political and social elements at the site which continued to thrive. In contrast to Delphi, other oracular counterparts in Asia Minor, such as Claros and Didyma, rose in prestige as they engaged with new "theological" issues. Issues such as these were not presented to Apollo at Delphi and this lack of expertise could help to explain why Delphi began to decline in importance. The second and third centuries AD witnessed the development of new ways of access to divine wisdom. Particularly widespread were the practices of astrology and the Neoplatonic divinatory system, theurgy. This monograph examines the correlation between the rise of such practices and the decline of oracular consultation at Delphi, analyzing several examples from the Chaldean Oracles to demonstrate the new interest in a personal, soteriological religion. These cases reveal the transfer of Delphi's sacred space, which further impacted the status of the oracle. Delphi's interaction with Christianity in the final years of oracular operation is also discussed. Oracular utterances with Christian overtones are examined along with archaeological remains which demonstrate a shift in the use of space at Delphi from a "pagan" Panhellenic center to one in which Christianity is accepted and promoted.
Travellers in Time re-evaluates the extent to which the earliest Mediterranean civilizations were affected by population movement. It critiques both traditional culture-history-grounded notions of movement in the region as straightforwardly transformative, and the processual, systemic models that have more recently replaced this view, arguing that newer scholarship too often pays limited attention to the specific encounters, experiences and agents involved in travel. By assessing a broad range of recent archaeological and ancient textual data from the Aegean and central and east Mediterranean via five comprehensive studies, this book makes a compelling case for rethinking issues such as identity, agency, materiality and experience through an understanding of movement as transformative. This innovative and timely study will be of interest to advanced undergraduates, postgraduate students and scholars in the fields of Aegean/Mediterranean prehistory and Classical archaeology, as well as anyone interested in ancient Aegean and Mediterranean culture.
This book presents essays that exemplify key themes including the interdependence of conservation, research and access; the need for a 21st-century inventory of the medieval sculpture; the breadth and value of the wide range of the research tools; and conservation issue. |
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