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Vacancies at Oxbow

Antiquaries and Archaists: The Past in the Past, the Past in the Present

edited by Megan Aldrich and Robert J. Wallis

This book explores the ever-changing view of the past, from Saxon times to the present day, from the British Isles to modern-day China - how the Middle Ages populated ancient sites with dragons and elves; how people responded to the historic landscape many centuries ago; how the landscapes and buildings of the past came to be interpreted and codified by the great antiquarians William Stukeley and Thomas Rickman. The modern perception and appreciation of the past is seen through the rise of antiquarianism in Japan; the founding of the Church Monuments Society in Britain; the way modern pagans have rediscovered mystery and magic in ancient sites; and how a Chinese woodblock printer has subtly reworked traditional techniques and motifs into contemporary settings. 147p, 42 b/w illus (Spire Books 2009)

Review Quote

"Engaging book... eclectic mix of topics... Well-edited and clearly-written."

Mike Pitts
British Archaeology 109 (December 2009)

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: Enchantment, Disenchantment Re-enchantment
1. Dragons, Elves and Giants: Some Pre-archaeological Occupants of British Barrows (Jeremy Harte)
2. Recycling the Past: Ancient Monuments and Changing Meanings in Early Medieval Britain (Sarah Semple)
3.‘A Small Journey into the Country’: William Stukeley and the Formal Landscapes of Avebury and Stonehenge (David Boyd Haycock)
4. Thomas Rickman’s Handbook of Gothic Architecture and the Taxonomic Classification of the Past (Megan Aldrich)
5. Antiquarianism and the Creation of Place: the Birth of Japanese Archaeology (Simon Kaner)
6. Recording the Past: the Origins and Aims of the Church Monuments Society (Simon Watney)
7. Modern Antiquarians? Pagans, ‘Sacred Sites’, Respect and Reburial (Robert J. Wallis)
8. Continuity and Revival in Modern Chinese Culture: the Woodblock Prints of Wang Chao (Anne Farrer)
Afterword (Alex Seago)

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