Bewnans Ke - a medieval Cornish play

Time to brush up on your Middle Cornish for the recent publication of this medieval play, with saints, tyrants, King Arthur and some great cursing!

Another Damaged Books Sale

Innevitably some of our books came a cropper during our recent move. Here they are at knock down prices!

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.

New Releases

Discussions in Egyptology 63 (2005)
edited by Alessandra Nibbi
Paperback. GB £12.00

Issue 63 contains a wide range of essays on Egyptology, including an important new assessment of Tutankhamun's Golden Shrine.

Ancient Textiles: Production, Crafts and Society
edited by Carole Gillis and Marie-Louise B Nosch
Hardback. GB £35.00

An understanding of textiles and the role they played in the past is important for anyone interested in past societies. Textiles served and in fact still do as both functional and symbolic items. The evidence for ancient textiles in Europe is split quite definitely along a north-south divide, with an abundance of actual examples in the north, but precious little in the south, where indirect evidence comes from such things as vase painting and frescoes. This volume brings together these two schools to look in more detail at textiles in the ancient world, and is based on a conference held in Denmark and Sweden in March 2003. Section one, Production and Organisation takes a chronological look through more than four thousand years of history; from Syria in the mid-third millennium BC, to Seventeenth Century Germany. Section two, Crafts and Technology focuses on the relationship between the primary producer (the craftsman) and the secondary receiver (the archaeologist/conservator). The third section, Society, examines the symbolic nature of textiles, and their place within ancient societal groups. Throughout the book emphasis is placed on the universality of textiles, and the importance of information exchange between scholars from different disciplines. A small book on finds "First Aid for the Excavation of Archaeological Textiles" is included as an Appendix.

First Aid for the Excavation of Archaeological Textiles
edited by Carole Gillis and Marie-Louise B Nosch
Paperback. GB £3.95

This small volume can be seen as an accompaniment to Ancient Textiles (1-84217-202-6) or as an important conservation guide in its own right. It deals with the special care required in order to deal with these delicate fabrics during their excavation and recording. Contents: Introduction (Carole Gillis and Marie-Louise Nosch); Guidelines for the excavation of archaeological textiles (Jana Jones et al); The use of the digital camera for the documentation of textiles (Annemette Bruselius Scharff). Is included as an appendix in Ancient Textiles: Production, Crafts and Society

Shell Middens in Atlantic Europe
edited by Nicky Milner, Oliver E Craig and Geoffrey N Bailey
Paperback. GB £35.00

The archaeological investigation of shell middens has a long and rich history. By the mid 1830s, the presence of artefacts found with large accumulations of shell along the Danish coast had successfully demonstrated that these sites were the result of human activity rather than natural processes. At about the same time in other parts of Europe, shell middens were also being discovered and written about - a process which continued throughout Europe as time went on. Until recently, European Atlantic shell middens attracted only sporadic interest from archaeologists and scientists. However, there has been a notable resurgence in the excavations of shell middens over the last few decades which has been accompanied by the development of a range of new scientific methods applicable to shells and other midden components. There now exists a sizeable amount of information on shell middens, their variability and insights that they have revealed through scientific investigation. A workshop was organised in September 2005 in the Department of Archaeology, University of York, which brought together colleagues working on shell middens along the Atlantic façade of Europe. The aims were to discuss the current work that was being carried out in each country, to consider the use of coastal resources through prehistory and to present new scientific techniques which were being developed. This volume presents the papers from that conference, and is organised geographically, starting with Scandinavia, moving down to Britain, Ireland and France and then to Iberia. For each of these areas there are some papers which provide reviews of the overall state of shell midden research of coastal archaeology. There are also some case studies which provide more in-depth information on sites which are less well known. In addition, several of the papers provide information on scientific techniques which have recently been developed and which are being applied to shell midden sites along the Atlantic façade. Finally, there is a discussion chapter, which suggests ways forward for shell midden research in Atlantic Europe from a Pacific perspective.