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Books > Humanities > Archaeology > Archaeology by period / region > General
An equestrian burial from the 10th century with an exceptionally elaborate horse harness was discovered at Fregerslev near Skanderborg in eastern Jutland, Denmark in 2012. This formed the starting point for the Fregerslev Research Project initiated by Museum Skanderborg in 2017. Two years later, the museum held a conference to present the preliminary results of the project. A group of researchers from neighbouring countries were invited to provide a wider international context for a discussion of the social, political, cultural and religious background of the Fregerslev burial. With 21 articles, Horse and Rider in the late Viking Age presents the outcome of the conference. Part I describes the excavation of the Fregerslev burial and its contents. The finds, particularly the harness fittings and the remains of a quiver of arrows, and the results of a wide range of scientific analyses demonstrate what a remarkable burial this once was. The excavation methods and documentation procedures, the sampling strategies, and the following conservation and preservation of the finds, give an idea of the many new approaches, which may be useful when dealing with a decomposed grave in the future. Part II and Part III present new research on 10th-century equestrian burials and their significance in contemporary society from a variety of countries across Central and Northern Europe.
In this book, Jan J. Boersema reconstructs the ecological and cultural history of Easter Island and critiques the hitherto accepted theory of the collapse of its civilization. The collapse theory, advanced most recently by Jared Diamond and Clive Ponting, is based on the documented overexploitation of natural resources, particularly woodlands, on which Easter Island culture depended. Deforestation is said to have led to erosion, followed by hunger, conflict, and economic and cultural collapse. Drawing on scientific data and historical sources, including the shipping journals of the Dutch merchant who was the first European to visit the island in 1722, Boersema shows that deforestation did not in fact jeopardize food production and lead to starvation and violence. On the basis of historical and scientific evidence, Boersema demonstrates how Easter Island society responded to cultural and environmental change as it evolved and managed to survive.
This monograph on the Central European Magdalenian aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the archaeological record of this period. It sheds new light on five regional groups between the Rhône valley to the west and the Vistula-valley to the east, which existed roughly between 20,000 and 14,000 years ago. Readers will discover that these groups are characterized with regard to their environmental setting (including faunal and vegetational aspects), lithic raw material and mollusk shell procurement, typology, technology and artesian craftworks. The work also explores an alternative interpretation of bidirectional recolonization from both Franco-Cantabria and Eastern Central Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum. This book will appeal to researchers and scholars in archaeology and cognate fields.
Charles Roach Smith (1806-90) had a prosperous career as a druggist. His shop was in the City of London, then undergoing major excavation and redevelopment, and he began to collect the artefacts being uncovered around him. With a widening interest in all aspects of the past, Smith began to publish notes on his collection as well as antiquarian observations. (His Illustrations of Roman London is also reissued in this series.) This three-volume work, published 1883-91, reviews his activities as an excavator, collector, and co-founder of the British Archaeological Association. Pen-portraits of fellow enthusiasts and descriptions of ancient buildings and ruins are interspersed with accounts of infighting in the Association, and biting criticism of local and national authorities who refused to take on responsibility for Britain's archaeological heritage. Volume 1 includes essays on the Saxon Shore forts, of which Roach Smith was a pioneering investigator.
First comprehensive English-language book on the largest city in the Americas before the 1400s. Teotihuacan is a UNESCO world heritage site, located in highland central Mexico, about twenty-five miles from Mexico City, visited by millions of tourists every year. The book begins with Cuicuilco, a predecessor that arose around 400 BCE, then traces Teotihuacan from its founding in approximately 150 BCE to its collapse around 600 CE. It describes the city's immense pyramids and other elite structures. It also discusses the dwellings and daily lives of commoners, including men, women, and children, and the craft activities of artisans. George L. Cowgill discusses politics, economics, technology, art, religion, and possible reasons for Teotihuacan's rise and fall. Long before the Aztecs and 800 miles from Classic Maya centers, Teotihuacan was part of a broad Mesoamerican tradition but had a distinctive personality that invites comparison with other states and empires of the ancient world.
Napoleon's military expedition to Egypt in 1798 famously included various scientists and savants, among whom was the author of this three-volume work, published in French in 1802 and in English in 1803. Vivant Denon (1747-1825) was a diplomat under the Ancien Regime, but survived the Revolution thanks to the patronage of the painter David, and met Napoleon through the salon of Josephine de Beauharnais. He accompanied the army, excavating and sketching, sometimes even during battles. The publication of this lively, illustrated account is regarded as the chief stimulus for the so-called 'Egyptian Revival' style of architecture, interior design and even costume. Volume 2 finds Denon travelling down the Nile into Upper Egypt, and fretting because General Desaix, his mind focused on an approaching battle, would not give him an escort to visit Abydos. This disappointment was compensated for when the army arrived at the marvellous ruins of Thebes.
Napoleon's military expedition to Egypt in 1798 famously included various scientists and savants, among whom was the author of this three-volume work, published in French in 1802 and in English in 1803. Vivant Denon (1747-1825) was a diplomat under the Ancien Regime, but survived the Revolution thanks to the patronage of the painter David, and met Napoleon through the salon of Josephine de Beauharnais. He accompanied the army, excavating and sketching, sometimes even during battles. The publication of this lively, illustrated account is regarded as the chief stimulus for the so-called 'Egyptian Revival' style of architecture, interior design and even costume. In Volume 3, Denon continues his travels, taking opportunities to join with surveying parties, sketching, and purchasing antiquities, including mummies and papyrus manuscripts. The volume ends with Denon's return to France, and his regret at how little he had seen and done, compared with the immensity of Egypt.
The Egyptologist Samuel Birch (1813-85) began to study Chinese at school, and obtained his first post at the British Museum cataloguing Chinese coins. He maintained his interest in Chinese civilisation throughout his life, but also collaborated with C. T. Newton on a catalogue of Greek and Etruscan vases, and with Sir Henry Rawlinson on cuneiform inscriptions, while also specialising in the examination and cataloguing of the Museum's growing collection of Egyptian papyri and other artefacts. Birch describes this two-volume, highly illustrated work on ancient pottery, published in 1858, as filling a perceived need: 'A work has long been required which should embody the general history of the fictile art of the ancients.' Volume 1 covers the composition and techniques of the pottery of ancient Egypt and Assyria, with notes on Jewish Phoenician wares, and begins an examination of the techniques and art of the Greek ceramicists.
The Egyptologist Samuel Birch (1813-85) began to study Chinese at school, and obtained his first post at the British Museum cataloguing Chinese coins. He maintained his interest in Chinese civilisation throughout his life, but also collaborated with C. T. Newton on a catalogue of Greek and Etruscan vases, and with Sir Henry Rawlinson on cuneiform inscriptions, while also specialising in the examination and cataloguing of the Museum's growing collection of Egyptian papyri and other artefacts. Birch describes this two-volume, highly illustrated work on ancient pottery, published in 1858, as filling a perceived need: 'A work has long been required which should embody the general history of the fictile art of the ancients.' Volume 2 continues to examine Greek pottery, including the work of named or identified individual craftsmen, and then moves on to Etruscan and Roman wares, with a short final section on 'Celtic, Teutonic, and Scandinavian pottery'.
First comprehensive English-language book on the largest city in the Americas before the 1400s. Teotihuacan is a UNESCO world heritage site, located in highland central Mexico, about twenty-five miles from Mexico City, visited by millions of tourists every year. The book begins with Cuicuilco, a predecessor that arose around 400 BCE, then traces Teotihuacan from its founding in approximately 150 BCE to its collapse around 600 CE. It describes the city's immense pyramids and other elite structures. It also discusses the dwellings and daily lives of commoners, including men, women, and children, and the craft activities of artisans. George L. Cowgill discusses politics, economics, technology, art, religion, and possible reasons for Teotihuacan's rise and fall. Long before the Aztecs and 800 miles from Classic Maya centers, Teotihuacan was part of a broad Mesoamerican tradition but had a distinctive personality that invites comparison with other states and empires of the ancient world.
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Christian Inscriptions In The Irish Language, Volume 1; Christian Inscriptions In The Irish Language; Margaret Stokes George Petrie Margaret Stokes Printed at the University press, for the Royal historical and archaeological association of Ireland, 1872 Art; Christian antiquities; Christian art and symbolism; Gaulish language; Inscriptions, Irish; Irish language; Welsh language
Brought up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, John Collingwood Bruce (1805-92) was fascinated by the antiquities of the north of England, and made an especial study of the impressive ruins of the 'Roman Wall'. He published this work in 1851, using both the writings of medieval and recent historians, and his own and others' field surveys and excavations. It describes the route of the wall from the Solway to Wallsend, and the surviving structures such as forts and milecastles along its length. Bruce also discusses and illustrates the Roman artefacts discovered around the wall, from pottery and nails to funerary monuments, which give insights into the lives of the soldiers from across the Roman empire who were stationed at this northern outpost. His argument that Hadrian was the builder of the wall reminds us that, until the mid-nineteenth century, it was thought to have been the idea of the later emperor Septimius Severus.
Born in Italy, Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832-1904) settled in the United States and fought for the North in the American Civil War, becoming a cavalry colonel. Appointed by Abraham Lincoln, he then served as consul to Cyprus from 1865 to 1877. As an amateur archaeologist, he directed excavations throughout the island. In this 1877 publication, including maps and illustrations, Cesnola gives a useful sketch of Cypriot history and contemporary customs in addition to providing an important record of his archaeological practices and discoveries. He covers a number of ancient settlements where significant finds were made, notably Paphos, Amathus and Kourion. Many of the uncovered artefacts were controversially removed from Cyprus and sold to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art; Cesnola served as its first director. His brother Alessandro's Salaminia (1882), recording his own excavations and discoveries in Cyprus, is also reissued in this series.
Alessandro Palma Di Cesnola (1839-1914) travelled to Cyprus in 1873 to take up an honorary post secured by his brother Luigi, who was the American consul there and also an amateur archaeologist. Obtaining funding from the British financier Edwin Lawrence, Alessandro carried out his own excavations, chiefly around Salamis. Replete with more than 700 illustrations, this 1882 publication records the most notable artefacts from the Lawrence-Cesnola collection, including gold jewellery, ivory objects, engraved gems, coins, and terracotta statuettes. The book sheds considerable light on the ancient Egyptian, Phoenician, Greek and Roman influences that shaped Cypriot art over the centuries. Di Cesnola's activities generated controversy, however, as he had flouted regulations in removing these artefacts. After the British Museum declined to acquire the whole collection, the bulk of it was sold at auction. His brother's finds were recorded in Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples (1877), which is also reissued in this series.
The English architect and archaeologist Edward Falkener (1814-96) spent a fortnight sketching the ancient ruins of Ephesus during his trip through Anatolia in the 1840s. In Part I of this 1862 publication, he tries to reconstruct the architectural features of Ephesian buildings, tracing the history of the city. Falkener's accomplished sketches and layouts display his artistic talent, which won him the grand medal of honour at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1855. Part II focuses on the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Falkener surveys ancient writings relating to the Greek temple, which still awaited rediscovery at that time. Although his speculations about the location of the temple were later proven wrong by John Turtle Wood, who correctly identified the site in 1869 (his 1877 account is also reissued in this series), Falkener's work added to the Victorian interest in ancient architecture.
First published in 1882, this clearly written account, accessible to non-specialists, is one of the principal works of the pioneering Celtic scholar Sir John Rhys (1840-1915). The son of a Welsh farmer and lead miner, Rhys went on to become the first professor of Celtic at the University of Oxford, principal of Jesus College, and a fellow of the British Academy. Knighted in 1907, Rhys had by then made significant contributions to the study of Celtic languages, travelling widely and examining many inscriptions at first hand. Here he covers Celtic etymology, ethnology and history in Britain from the time of Julius Caesar to the eleventh-century Scottish kingdoms. His Lectures on Welsh Philology (1877) and Celtic Folklore: Welsh and Manx (1901) are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. For the study of Celtic language, culture and mythology, the importance of Rhys's research is still acknowledged today.
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1853 edition. Excerpt: ...his head, and heard his long, regular, and continued swallows; and when he had finished the jar he drew a long breath, went to the window, came to my bedside, looked at me for a moment, probably thinking wl_.at a deal of useless trouble I took in pulling oil' my clothes; and, throwing himself upon the divan, in a few moments he was again asleep. ln the morning immediately after breakfast one of the monks came to conduct me through the convent. The building covered a great extent of ground; and for strength and solidity, as well as size, resembled a fortress. It was built by the Empress Helena, over the spot consecrated as the birthplace of our Saviour, and was intended, so far as human handiwork could do so, to honour and reverence the holy spot. The insuflicient means of the pious empress, however, or some other cause, prevented its being finished according to the plan she had designed; and the charity of subsequent Christians has barely sufliced to keep it from falling to. ruin. The great church would have been a magnificent building if finished according to her plan; but now, in its incomplete state, it is a melancholy monument of defeated ambition. On each side is a range of noble columns, supporting a frieze of wood, which the monk told me. was cedar from Lebanon, and still remaining almost as sound as the solid stone. The whole building is divided among the Catholics, Greeks, and Armenians, the three great bodies who represent, or rather misrepresent, Christianity in the East. Each has its limits, beyond which the others must not pass; and again there are certain parts which are common to all. The Turkish government exercises a control over it; and, taking advantage of the dissensions between these different professors, sells...
Charles Roach Smith (1806-90), born on the Isle of Wight and educated in Hampshire, was apprenticed to a lawyer at fifteen, but a year later transferred to a chemist, where he prospered, moving to London and becoming wealthy from a firm of wholesale druggists and his own chemist's shop in Lothbury, in the City of London. Sewerage and other works in the City meant that Roman and medieval artefacts were regularly coming to light, and Smith's collection eventually numbered more than 5,000 pieces. He eventually sold it to the British Museum, at far less than its market value, so that it could remain intact. This book, published in 1859, describes the excavations, and uses the finds he and others acquired to illustrate 'the institutions, the habits, the customs, and the arts of our forefathers'. It remains an invaluable record of finds arising from the Victorian redevelopment of London.
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1853 edition. Excerpt: ...his head, and heard his long, regular, and continued swallows; and when he had finished the jar he drew a long breath, went to the window, came to my bedside, looked at me for a moment, probably thinking wl_.at a deal of useless trouble I took in pulling oil' my clothes; and, throwing himself upon the divan, in a few moments he was again asleep. ln the morning immediately after breakfast one of the monks came to conduct me through the convent. The building covered a great extent of ground; and for strength and solidity, as well as size, resembled a fortress. It was built by the Empress Helena, over the spot consecrated as the birthplace of our Saviour, and was intended, so far as human handiwork could do so, to honour and reverence the holy spot. The insuflicient means of the pious empress, however, or some other cause, prevented its being finished according to the plan she had designed; and the charity of subsequent Christians has barely sufliced to keep it from falling to. ruin. The great church would have been a magnificent building if finished according to her plan; but now, in its incomplete state, it is a melancholy monument of defeated ambition. On each side is a range of noble columns, supporting a frieze of wood, which the monk told me. was cedar from Lebanon, and still remaining almost as sound as the solid stone. The whole building is divided among the Catholics, Greeks, and Armenians, the three great bodies who represent, or rather misrepresent, Christianity in the East. Each has its limits, beyond which the others must not pass; and again there are certain parts which are common to all. The Turkish government exercises a control over it; and, taking advantage of the dissensions between these different professors, sells...
The traveller and archaeologist Sir Charles Fellows (1799-1860) made several trips through Asia Minor. This work, first published in 1841, is an account of the second of these journeys, recording his careful observations of the places he visited in 1840. During his first trip in 1838 he had seen the ruins of ancient cities that were hardly known to Europeans at that time, and he soon returned to focus his attention on Lycia. Fellows provides here a lively narrative of his discoveries, along with his own detailed drawings and many inscriptions in ancient Greek. His publications generated significant interest, fuelling the British Museum's desire to acquire antiquities from the region. Fellows was later knighted for his role in these acquisitions, though controversy surrounds their removal. The journal of his first trip, and his later work The Xanthian Marbles (1843), are also reissued in this series.
Combining a very active career as a prosperous paper manufacturer with the pursuit of various antiquarian interests, Sir John Evans (1823-1908) began the study of geology in the context of a court case over water rights for his paper mills, but extended his interests to the artefacts found in gravel beds in Britain, and in the Somme valley in France. This work was published in 1872, and was translated into French soon afterwards. Heavily illustrated, it describes stone implements from the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods, including weapons, tools and ornaments, from cave and river-bed deposits as well as settlement sites. Evans also continued to research fossils, and was highly respected as a numismatist. He was a fellow of the Royal Society, the Geological Society, and the Society of Antiquaries. His son Arthur Evans (1851-1941) discovered the Minoan civilisation of Crete.
This edited volume focuses on the funerary archaeology of the Pan-Andean area in the pre-Hispanic period. The contributors examine the treatment of the dead and provide an understanding of how these ancient groups coped with mortality, as well as the ways in which they strove to overcome the effects of death. The contributors also present previously unpublished discoveries and employ a range of academic and analytical approaches that have rarely - if ever - been utilised in South America before. The book covers the Formative Period to the end of the Inca Empire, and the chapters together comprise a state-of-the-art summary of all the best research on Andean funerary archaeology currently being carried out around the globe.
The primary theoretical question addressed in this book focuses on the lingering concern of how the ancient Maya in the northern Peten Basin were able to sustain large populations in the midst of a tropical forest environment during the Late Classic period. This book asks how agricultural intensification was achieved and how essential resources, such as water and forest products, were managed in both upland areas and seasonal wetlands, or bajos. All of these activities were essential components of an initially sustainable land use strategy that eventually failed to meet the demands of an escalating population. This spiraling disconnect with sound ecological principles undoubtedly contributed to the Maya collapse. The book's findings provide insights that broaden the understanding of the rise of social complexity - the expansion of the political economy, specifically - and, in general terms, the trajectory of cultural evolution of the ancient Maya civilization.
Originally published in 1957, this book presents a comprehensive study of Bronze Age cultures in France, in their later phases from the thirteenth to the seventh century BC, placing emphasis on the role of 'Tumulus and Urnfield culture'. Avoiding an overly broad approach, the text focuses in the main on eastern and north-eastern France 'as it was there that the new cultures first rooted, and thence new ideas were diffused'. Numerous illustrative figures are included and notes are incorporated throughout. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the Bronze Age, archaeology and the prehistory of the French region.
It is widely accepted that the Viking Age (c. 800-1050) stimulated the development of long-distance, regional and local trade and exchange networks. The clearest archaeological evidence for these contacts is mainly in the form of silver artefacts predominantly found in hoards in Northern and Central Europe - the Baltic zone. However, beyond occasional national- or regional-level research, there have been no attempts at a historically guided comparative archaeological survey of the Baltic zone as a whole. By investigating silver hoards and the context of their deposition, Viking Silver, Hoards and Containers seeks to understand the variety of functions performed by hoards; the differences in function within regions; the hoards' relationship with trade; and the nature and function of emporia. It also examines the extent to which the findings mesh with literary evidence and the nature of the different societies benefiting from the influx of silver in the Viking Age. Crucially, the book features a catalogue, which provides a thorough overview and update of Baltic-zone hoards. Viking Silver, Hoards and Containers is intended for use by students of, and specialists in, early medieval, Viking and Slavic history and archaeology. However, it will also be a useful teaching resource for other general courses in archaeology, anthropology and material culture, numismatics, economic history, religious studies, GIS and statistics. |
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