Funerary Practices in the Second Half of the Second Millennium BC in Continental Atlantic Europe


Book Description

This edited volume presents a selection of essays dedicated to funerary practices from Belgium to the north of Portugal. It aims at filling gaps in the documentation and helping to better understand the relationships between these Atlantic regions during the Bronze Age.




Late Antique Textiles from the Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library


Book Description

MPER XXXIV, 2 presents knowledge of textile dyeing in Late Antique Egypt (ca. 300–800 CE) based on interdisciplinary research on 30 Late Antique textiles from the Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library, combining scientific analyses with the study of ancient and scholarly literature. The general part deals with the dyeing materials and techniques that were available in Late Antique Egypt to create a wide variety of colours. The catalogue part contains the scientific analyses of 85 samples of 30 Late Antique textiles from this collection. The results of dye, fibre and mordant analyses are documented with UHPLC chromatograms, UV/VIS absorption spectra, SEM-EDX spectra, microscopic images and tables. Textiles in which specific dyeing materials have been identified are listed in the appendices including textiles from the Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library as well as archaeological textiles from numerous international projects. A detailed bibliography completes this volume. MPER XXXIV, 1 – the first comprehensive compilation of Late Antique textiles from the Papyrus collection of the Austrian Library – provides an overall study of these 30 textiles and 208 more including iconography and the analyses of the weaving techniques. MPER XXXIV, 1 and 2 can also be purchased as a set.




The Later Prehistory of North-West Europe


Book Description

The Later Prehistory of North-West Europe provides a unique, up-to-date, and easily accessible synthesis of the later prehistoric archaeology of north-west Europe, transcending political and language barriers that can hinder understanding. By surveying changes in social forms, landscape organization, monument types, and ritual practices over six millennia, the volume reassesses the prehistory of north-west Europe from the late Mesolithic to the end of the pre-Roman Iron Age. It explores how far common patterns of social development are apparent across north-west Europe, and whether there were periods when local differences were emphasized instead. In relation to this, it also examines changes through time in the main axes of contact between the various regions of continental Europe, Britain, and Ireland. Key to the volume's broad scope is its focus on the vast mass of new evidence provided by recent development-led excavations. The authors collate data that has been gathered on thousands of sites across Britain, Ireland, northern France, the Low Countries, western Germany, and Denmark, using sources including unpublished 'grey literature' reports. The results challenge many aspects of previous narratives of later prehistory, allowing the volume to present a distinctively fresh perspective.







Gifts, Goods and Money: Comparing currency and circulation systems in past societies


Book Description

The papers gathered in this volume explore the economic and social roles of exchange systems in past societies from a variety of different perspectives. Based on a broad range of individual case studies, the authors tackle problems surrounding the identification of (pre-monetary) currencies in the archaeological record.




Beyond Stonehenge


Book Description

Celebrating Colin Burgess 65th birthday and more than 45 years studying the Bronze Age, thirty-six contributors, friends, colleagues, former students and members of the Bronze Age Studies Group have come together to provide their latest thoughts on the Bronze Age in Europe. Topics range from the rock art of Northumberland to the nuraghe of Sardinia, from mining in Wales to cross-Channel trade links and from the Cave of Covsea to that at Heathery Burn. Artefact studies include, re-assessments of Scottish Ceramics, Swords from the European Lowlands and from Scotland, hair rings in France, Gold from Iberia, a woodworkers toolkit from Ireland and the first analysis of the most recent bronze and gold hoard discovered in northern England. Wider topics are also considered including the dating of the Bronze Age in Britain in light of the latest European discoveries.




Bronze Age Connections


Book Description

The discovery of the Dover Bronze Age boat sixteen years ago continues to inspire and stimulate debate about the nature of seafaring and cultural connections in prehistoric Europe; the twelve papers presented here reflect an increasing recognition of cross-channel similarities and a coming together of maritime ('wet') and terrestrial ('dry') archaeology. Contents: Building new connections (Peter Clark); Encompassing the sea: 'maritories' and Bronze Age maritime interactions (Stuart Needham); From Picardy to Flanders: transmanche connections in the Bronze Age (Jean Bourgeois and Marc Talon); British immigrants killed abroad in the seventies: the rise and fall of a Dutch culture (Liesbeth Theunissen); The Canche Estuary (Pas-de-Calais, France) from the early Bronze Age to the emporium of Quentovic: a traditional trading place between south east England and the continent (Michel Philippe); Looking forward: maritime contacts in the first millennium BC (Barry Cunliffe); Copper Mining and production at the beginning of the British Bronze Age new evidence for Beaker/EBA prospecting and some ideas on scale, exchange, and early smelting technologies (Simon Timberlake); The demise of the flint tool industry (Chris Butler); Land at the other end of the sea? Metalwork circulation, geographical knowledge and the significance of British/Irish imports in the Bronze Age of the Low Countries (David Fontijn); The master(y) of hard materials: thoughts on technology, materiality and ideology occasioned by the Dover boat (Mary W Helms); Exploring the ritual of travel in prehistoric Europe: the Bronze Age sewn-plank boats in context (Robert van de Noort); In his hands and in his head: the Amesbury Archer as magician (Andrew Fitzpatrick).




Arabia and the Arabs


Book Description

Long before Muhammed preached the religion of Islam, the inhabitants of his native Arabia had played an important role in world history as both merchants and warriors Arabia and the Arabs provides the only up-to-date, one-volume survey of the region and its peoples, from prehistory to the coming of Islam Using a wide range of sources - inscriptions, poetry, histories, and archaeological evidence - Robert Hoyland explores the main cultural areas of Arabia, from ancient Sheba in the south, to the deserts and oases of the north. He then examines the major themes of *the economy *society *religion *art, architecture and artefacts *language and literature *Arabhood and Arabisation The volume is illustrated with more than 50 photographs, drawings and maps.







Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice


Book Description

Bridging the fields of conservation, art history, and museum curating, this volume contains the principal papers from an international symposium titled "Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice" at the University of Leiden in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from June 26 to 29, 1995. The symposium—designed for art historians, conservators, conservation scientists, and museum curators worldwide—was organized by the Department of Art History at the University of Leiden and the Art History Department of the Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science in Amsterdam. Twenty-five contributors representing museums and conservation institutions throughout the world provide recent research on historical painting techniques, including wall painting and polychrome sculpture. Topics cover the latest art historical research and scientific analyses of original techniques and materials, as well as historical sources, such as medieval treatises and descriptions of painting techniques in historical literature. Chapters include the painting methods of Rembrandt and Vermeer, Dutch 17th-century landscape painting, wall paintings in English churches, Chinese paintings on paper and canvas, and Tibetan thangkas. Color plates and black-and-white photographs illustrate works from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.