Rome on TV

Rome, the recent HBO/BBC TV series, was a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic, bringing late Republican history to a wide audience, and no doubt provoking many a debate among your good selves. A new book examines from an academic standpoint the historicity of the series and what it can tell us about public perceptions of Rome.

Another Damaged Book Sale

We aren't deliberately mistreating them - honestly - but wear and tear does see a few books end up in less than perfect condition. Here are some more with significant reductions in price.

New Bargains

A first look at our most recent bargain books.

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

Dressing the Past
edited by Margarita Gleba, Cherine Munkholt and Marie-Louise Nosch
Paperback. GB £25.00

No reader of this book will ever look at a reconstructed costume in a museum or at a historical festival, or watch a film with a historic theme again without a heightened awareness of how, why, and from what sources, the costumes were re-constructed. The seventeen contributors come from a variety of disciplines: archaeologists, historians, curators with ethnological and anthropological backgrounds, designers, a weaver, a conservator and a scholar of fashion in cinema. They are all specialists interested in ancient or historical dress who wish to share their knowledge and expertise with students, hobby enthusiasts and the general reader. The anthology is also recommended for use in teaching students at design schools.

Archaeology Meets Science: Biomolecular Investigations in Bronze Age Greece
edited by Yannis Tzedakis, Holley Martlew and Martin K Jones
Hardback. GB £60.00, GB £19.95

The 'Archaeology meets Science' project is currently transforming our understanding of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations, through the in-depth application of state of the art scientific analyses to ceramic artefacts and skeletal material. This book is the fruit of this acclaimed research, which was carried out between 1997 and 2003, and presented in an exhibition in a number of museums across Europe and the United States, starting with the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Moving beyond the standard archaeological format of illustrations with descriptions of contexts, the book analyses each object from the inside, and consequently each has a different story to tell. Organic residue and stable isotope analysis has extended our knowledge beyond anything previously gleaned through conventional archaeological research, and we now have a much better understanding of the food and drink consumed by ordinary people in Bronze Age Greece. There are some fascinating insights, such as the origin of modern Greek retsina, which was traced first to the time of Agamemnon, then to Crete in the 17th century BC and finally to the Early Minoan Period, c. 2000 BC. The book provides the primary scientific evidence on which the world renowned scientists who have carried out this work have based their conclusions.

Current Research in Egyptology 2007: Proceedings of the Eight Annual Conference
edited by Ken Griffin

The Eighth Annual Current Research in Egyptology Symposium (CRE 2007) was held at Swansea University on the 19th-21st April. The conference brought together graduate and postgraduate students of Egyptology from ten different countries, contributing to a total of 40 presentations. The range of topics included art and architecture, archaeology, literature and language, history and society as well as scientific analysis spanning the entire epoch of Egyptian history from the Predynastic to the Coptic era. The papers presented in the following volume represent a diverse range of topics and multidisciplinary approaches.

Changing Perspectives on the First Millennium BC: Proceedings of the Iron Age Research Student Seminar 2006
edited by Oliver Davis, Niall Sharples and Kate Waddington
Paperback. GB £35.00

These fifteen papers came out of the eighth annual meeting of the Iron Age Research Student Seminar (IARSS) and are loosely grouped into three topics: settlement studies, deposition and material culture, and experimental archaeology. Most of the studies are re-examinings of well known data sets, such as hillforts, small enclosures and bone assemblages, both human and animal. They are mainly focused on the British Iron Age - one of the most heterogeneous and regionally distinctive periods in British prehistory. Material culture is highly variable, as are settlement patterns, and even chronology is of an entirely local character, being reliant on typological sequences from each region's specific archaeological record. The book ends with the recounting of a trip to the Iron Age village at St. Fagan's, Cardiff - a practical foray into the Iron Age day-to-day.

Conferences we will be attending

IFA Conference
Swansea, UK (Tuesday 18 March, 2008 - Thursday 20 March, 2008)
The Annual Conference for Archaeologists has become established as the premier archaeological conference in the UK, attracting over 400 participants. With its combination of keynote addresses,wide-ranging sessions, workshops, displays, poster sessions and other events, it is a vital forum for discussing topical professional issues, as well as providing updates on current research.
http://www.archaeologists.net/modules/icontent/index.php?page=18

Classical Association Annual Conference
Liverpool, UK (Thursday 27 March, 2008 - Sunday 30 March, 2008)

http://www.liv.ac.uk/sace/events/confer/ca.htm

Challenging Frontiers: Mobility, Transition and Change
Oxford, UK (Friday 04 April, 2008 - Saturday 05 April, 2008)
The conference has two main aims; firstly to address the question of mobility in the archaeological record and secondly to challenge the boundaries and frontiers between disciplines thereby encouraging dialogue between the arts and sciences and hopefully a more comprehensive perspective on mobility, transition, and change.
http://www.graduatearchaeologyoxford.co.uk/conferences.html