Two barrows in the parish of Tixall, north of Stafford, were excavated between 1986-1994. The results are important because little excavation of round barrows has been carried out in this area of North Staffordshire and these add considerably to the local corpus of knowledge concerning Early Bronze Age burial practices.
This book discusses the lines of standing stones that until now have been the neglected wonders of prehistoric Europe, rows that were foci of rituals in Britain, Ireland and Brittany for over two thousand years. Places such as Carnac in Brittany and Callanish in the Hebrides are visited by many visitors each year, but before now there has been no book that seriously explains the history, significance and background to these impressive sites. Aubrey Burl shows that the settings vary from pairs of isolated stones in the far south-west of Ireland to networks of long lines in Scotland, Dartmoor and Brittany, and describes the types in a sequence of architectural chapters that stress the increasing social and commercial connections between regions hundred of miles apart. He uses information from a wide variety of sources - excavation reports, megalithic art, astronomical analyses and legends - to provide explanations of why the rows were erected, when, and what they may have been used for.
This student-friendly introduction to the archaeology of ancient Egypt guides readers from the Paleolithic to the Greco-Roman periods, and has now been updated to include recent discoveries and new illustrations. • Superbly illustrated with photographs, maps, and site plans, with additional illustrations in this new edition • Organized into 11 chapters, covering: the history of Egyptology and Egyptian archaeology; prehistoric and pharaonic chronology and the ancient Egyptian language; geography, resources, and environment; and seven chapters organized chronologically and devoted to specific archaeological sites and evidence • Includes sections on salient topics such as the constructing the Great Pyramid at Giza and the process of mummification
In this book, Richard Bussmann presents a fresh overview of ancient Egyptian society and culture in the age of the pyramids. He addresses key themes in the comparative research of early complex societies, including urbanism, funerary culture, temple ritual, kingship, and the state, and explores how ideas and practices were exchanged between ruling elites and local communities in provincial Egypt. Unlike other studies of ancient Egypt, this book adopts an anthropological approach that places people at the centre of the analysis. Bussmann covers a range of important themes in cross-cultural debates, such as materiality, gender, non-elite culture, and the body. He also offers new perspectives on social diversity and cultural cohesion, based on recent discoveries. His study vividly illustrates how our understanding of ancient Egyptian society benefits from the application of theoretical concepts in archaeology and anthropology to the interpretation of the evidence.
This volume examines the commensal politics of early states and empires and offers a comparative perspective on how food and feasting have figured in the political calculus of archaic states in both the Old and New Worlds. It provides a cross-cultural and comparative analysis for scholars and graduate students concerned with the archaeology of complex societies, the anthropology of food and feasting, ancient statecraft, archaeological approaches to micro-political processes, and the social interpretation of prehistoric pottery.
The Archaeology of the Medieval English Monarchy looks at the period between the reign of William the Conqueror and that of Henry VIII, bringing together physical evidence for the kings and their courts. John Steane looks at the symbols of power and regalia including crowns, seals and thrones. He considers Royal patronage, architecture and ideas on burials and tombs to unravel the details of their daily lives supported with many illustrations.
This volume presents the results of archaeological investigations undertaken at a building site in Northampton in 2014. The location was of interest as it lay opposite the former medieval hospital of St. John, which influenced the development of this area of the town.