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Ritual and Domestic Life in Prehistoric Europe

Bradley, Richard

The lack of clarity over the use of the term ritual by archaeologists has led to a great deal of inference and supposition which creates a tendency to want to put it in inverted commas. Whilst investigating and critiquing the way in which ritual has been studied and presented, Richard Bradley sheds some light on the way forward. He argues that once we accept that ritual is a form of practice which can occur in a variety of settings, including the domestic sphere, we can begin to investigate how it permeated everyday life in prehistoric Europe. Presenting evidence from northern and western Europe between the Neolithic and Iron Age, Bradley shows how ritual and domestic spheres were integrated and how ritual did not include a different kind of logic from everyday activities where practical skills existed on a different level from specialised knowledge and supernatural connections. Through examples and well-structured argument, the book demonstrates the ritual elements in various domestic and non-domestic settings, from building houses to food production, from producing artefacts to making offerings. Highly recommended. 234p, b/w figs, tbs (Routledge 2005)

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