A study of human understanding of animate nature, from an archaeological and anthropological viewpoint. It is based on papers given at the World Archaeological Congress in 1986, under the title of "Semantics of Animal Symbolism". The contributors were from every part of the world, including the Third World.

What do we really know about how and where religions began, and how they spread? In this bold new book, award-winning author Robin Derricourt takes us on a journey through the birth and growth of several major religions, using history and archaeology to recreate the times, places and societies that witnessed the rise of significant monotheistic faiths. Beginning with Mormonism and working backwards through Islam, Christianity and Judaism to Zoroastrianism, Creating God opens up the conditions that allowed religious movements to emerge, attract their first followers and grow. Throughout history there have been many prophets: individuals who believed they were in direct contact with the divine, with instructions to spread a religious message. While many disappeared without trace, some gained millions of followers and established a lasting religion. In Creating God, Robin Derricourt has produced a brilliant, panoramic book that offers new insights on the origins of major religions and raises essential questions about why some succeeded where others failed. -- .

This book includes a collection of papers, dedicated to Tjalling Waterbolk, on various topics, including palaeobotanical and archaeological research, prehistoric settlement in the province of Drenthe and the coastal areas of Groningen and Friesland, and radiocarbon dating of archaeological samples.

This is a unique and engaging book on prehistoric stone tools. It advocates an experiential approach in which analysts try to understand stone tool designs from the users' perspectives, and employs a universal logic of designing tools to solve practical problems and evaluate possible solutions. However, to do so it is also necessary to understand how stone can be mechanically modified to serve specific functions. The author enlists a rich array of ethnographic observations and his considerable background as a flintknapper to show the basic ways in which stones can be flaked and modified and what these characteristics can reveal about prehistoric problem-solving strategies and design constraints. This is an invaluable primer for anyone contemplating the study of prehistoric stone tools.

`This eagerly awaited book is an outstanding and right up-to-date summary of every excavation and investigation undertaken in Ireland into the earthworks, castles, ecclesiastical buildings and towns of the period from the arrival of the Anglo-Normans to the mid-sixteenth century...a most welcome synthesis and will be valued by the layperson, student and professional archaeologist, historical geographer and historian alike.' Archaeology Ireland

This book aims to portray ancient civilizations and the development of early states in China and the rest of the world during the Liangzhu period. From a global perspective, it describes the ancient Egyptian, Sumerian and Harappan civilizations, as well as lesser-known civilizations such as the Cyclades and Caral, underscoring the similarities and differences between their central settlements, capitals and material cultural remains. As for the national aspect, the book mainly explores the development process of east Asian civilization as represented by Chinese civilization and probes into the evolution of the Liangzhu, Dawenkou and Qujialing civilizations four to five thousand years ago in a search for the origins of Chinese civilization.

This book presents selected work from the Florence Heri-Tech, a conference focused on the use of innovative technologies and methods for analyzing, managing, and preserving cultural heritage. This book presents chapters on the chemical and physical advancement in the development of new materials and methods for the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage. It also covers trends in conservation and restoration technology: biotechnology, nanotechnology, tailored materials, and physical technologies. The reader also finds information on methods and instruments for the conservation diagnosis and treatments.

Hannah M Cotton's collected papers focus on questions which have fascinated her for over four decades: the concrete relationships between law, language, administration and everyday life in Judaea and Nabataea in particular, and in the Roman world as a whole. Many of the papers, especially those devoted to the Judean Desert documents of the 2nd century CE have been widely cited. Others, having appeared in less accessible publications, may not have received the attention they deserve. On the whole, rather than addressing the grand narratives of world or national history, they look at the texture of life, seeking to provide tentative answers to historical questions and interpretations by paying fine attention to the details of literary and, especially, documentary evidence. Taken together they illuminate fundamental, often legal, questions concerning daily life and the exercise of Roman rule and administration in the early imperial period, and especially, their impact on life as it was lived in the province and the period where Roman and Jewish history fatefully intersected. The volume includes a complete bibliography of her publications.

This second fully updated and extended edition of Biotechnology and Conservation of Cultural Heritage provides in-depth insights into the role of different microorganisms and microbial compounds in biodeterioration, conservation and restoration of artworks and artifacts. Latest methods to detect, remove and prevent microbial colonization on artwork surfaces and in air environments of libraries and museums are discussed and illustrated by engaging case studies. Furthermore, this edition covers new case studies on Archaeobiology, exploring ways to perform the molecular biology characterization, restoring and protecting museum taxidermal specimens, preserving and guaranteeing the future integrity. Finally, the use of halloysite-nanotubes is investigated to set up innovative protocols in consolidation and long-term protection of waterlogged and archaeological wood. This book addresses to Biologists, Microbiologists, Conservation Scientists and Conservators who are interested in understanding the role of microorganisms and bioactive molecules in conservation projects.

George Frison's Prehistoric Hunters of the High Plains has been the standard text on plains prehistory since its first publication in 1978, influencing generations of archaeologists. Now, a third edition of this classic work is available for scholars, students, and avocational archaeologists. Thorough and comprehensive, extensively illustrated, the book provides an introduction to the archaeology of the more than 13,000 year long history of the western Plains and the adjacent Rocky Mountains. Reflecting the boom in recent archaeological data, it reports on studies at a wide array of sites from deep prehistory to recent times examining the variability in the archeological record as well as in field, analytical, and interpretive methods. The 3rd edition brings the book up to date in a number of significant areas, as well as addressing several topics inadequately developed in previous editions.

This book represents a reflection on the policies of preservation that were established and interventions for restoration that occurred in Iran before and in the years after the Khomeinist Revolution, as well as being an analysis of the impact that Italian restoration culture has had in the country. Research concerning the state of conservation and the ongoing restoration of the Armenian churches in the Khoy and Salmas areas is included, along with precise documentation of the observation of the two cities, their architecture and the context of their landscape. The problems of architectural restoration in present-day Iran and the compatible use of buildings no longer intended for worship are addressed. The book is bolstered by first-hand documentation obtained through inspections and interviews with Iranian specialists during three missions carried out between 2016 and 2018 and a large anthology of period texts that have only recently been made available for the first time for study in electronic form, including travel reports written by Westerners describing Persia between the 15th and 19th centuries.

This volume gives an impression of the Archaeozoology Department's current research activity. It will be useful for several research workers, a number of technical assistants, and research students of archaeozoology.