A Legacy of Looting

Can the looting of archaeological sites and the smuggling of artefacts ever be justified? Two new books examine the past and present of looting in Egypt and the Middle East.

Bad Medicine

Two new books explore the history of the fight against pain, and doctors faltering attempts to combat it, from ancient times to the present day.

Limited and out-of-print bargains

This month, we begin at the beginning, with our 'soon-to-run-out' prehistory bargains.

Of all the new books that have passed over the desks of the Oxbow staff this month, these, for whatever reason, are the ones that grabbed their attention.

Meet the Author: Tony Rook

Tony Rook became an amateur archaeologist almost 60 years ago. He is now Director of the Roman Building Trust and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. As a building technologist, he is concerned with the mechanics of Roman buildings, and his hands-on experimental appraoch is a welcome one. OXeN caught up with him to ask some searching questions...

New Releases

Crossing the Rift: Resources, Settlements Patterns and Interaction in the Wadi Arabah
edited by Piotr Bienkowski and Katharina Galor
Hardback. GB £45.00

Most of the papers published in this volume were originally presented at a conference of the same name, organised by the editors, and held in Atlanta, Georgia, in November 2003. The Wadi Arabah falls between the two areas of southern Jordan and Negev, and has traditionally been seen as a barrier and border. This book (and the conference it came out of) is an attempt to look at this neglected area anew: bridge, rather than barrier.

Conferences we will be attending

International Medieval Congress
Leeds (Monday 10th July 2006 - Thursday 13th July 2006)
Now established as the primary annual Medieval gathering in Europe. 1300 participants from all over the world cover every aspect of medieval studies: Literature, history, art and archaeology, religious studies and more.
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/index.html/