November 2009 Issue
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| FEATURES | ||||||||
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The current consultation into the possible reburial of human remains from Avebury, may have serious implications for archaeology. We take a look at just some of the recent publications which are centred on the scientific study of human remains. | |||||||
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Drum roll please… A run down of our bestsellers for 2008, all now with money off until the end of the year. | |||||||
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More damaged books for you to grab at low, low prices! Previously advertised damaged books will now be added to a new Damaged Books sidebar on our main screen. But we will continue to alert you to new ones by email. | |||||||
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Your regular chance to get a first look at our most recent bargain books. | |||||||
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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.
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| NEWS AND HAPPENINGS | ||||||||
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New Releases | ||||||||
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Vitreous Material in the Late Bronze Age Aegean: A Window to the East Mediterranean World
The explosion of research in the field of ancient and historic glasses has opened up glass studies in recent years. However, our deeper understanding of the technology and provenance of Bronze Age Egyptian and Roman glasses in the Mediterranean has not been mirrored by our studies of glasses and other vitreous materials found in the Late Bronze Age Aegean. There are few studies which collate the material culture of the region and still fewer which explore the patterning of vitreous materials in the landscape. Our knowledge of where the material originated and who used it is still incomplete. Therefore, in 2005 a group of scholars in the fields of glass studies and Aegean prehistory came together as part of the Sheffield Centre for Aegean Archaeology's Round Table discussions to bring the subject up to date. The central themes to this discussion were based upon provenance, occurrence and the role of vitreous materials in the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean. Nine papers are presented from the discussions by experts in Bronze Age glass and faience and Aegean specialists, who examine a fascinating and diverse selection of topics surrounding the production, movement, use and role of vitreous materials in the Late Bronze Age Aegean. The contributions from John Bennet, Karen Foster, Paul Nicholson, George Nightingale, Marina Panagiotaki, Mark Peters, Thilo Rehren, Sue Sherratt and Mike Tite bring together our current understanding of these materials and their role in the societies who used them. | |||||||
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Textile Production in Pre-Roman Italy
Older than both ceramics and metallurgy, textile production is a technology which reveals much about prehistoric social and economic development. This book examines the archaeological evidence for textile production in Italy from the transition between the Bronze Age and Early Iron Ages until the Roman expansion (1000-400 BCE), and sheds light on both the process of technological development and the emergence of large urban centres with specialised crafts. Margarita Gleba begins with an overview of the prehistoric Appennine peninsula, which featured cultures such as the Villanovans and the Etruscans, and was connected through colonisation and trade with the other parts of the Mediterranean. She then focuses on the textiles themselves: their appearance in written and iconographic sources, the fibres and dyes employed, how they were produced and what they were used for: we learn, for instance, of the linen used in sails and rigging on Etruscan ships, and of the complex looms needed to produce twill. Featuring a comprehensive analysis of textiles remains and textile tools from the period, the book recovers information about funerary ritual, the sexual differentiation of labour (the spinners and weavers were usually women) and the important role the exchange of luxury textiles played in the emergence of an elite. Textile production played a part in ancient Italian society's change from an egalitarian to an aristocratic social structure, and in the emergence of complex urban communities. | |||||||
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Vernacular Mudbrick Architecture in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, and the Design of the Dakhleh Oasis Training and Conservation Centre
More than one third of the world's population lives in houses made of unfired earth bricks or stamped earth, materials also known as mud brick, adobe, terre crue, pisé, or rammed earth. Houses in the middle east have been made out this material for at least 10,000 years, but in many places this form of architecture is slowly being superceded by more recent building techniques using reinforced concrete and concrete blocks. This study contains a description of the remaining mud brick architecture in several villages in the Dakhleh Oasis in Egypt. It includes a brief history of mud brick, a discussion of the distinct local building techniques of the Oasis, and three architectural case studies of traditional mud brick houses in the Oasis, and it has many plans and photographs of local houses. The study was carried out as preparation for the design and construction of an archaeological working and training centre in the Dakhleh Oasis, which has been made according to the local traditions in mud brick vernacular. It is based on a field trip carried out in 1997 by Wolf Schijns (architect), Margriet Schijns (architect), Olaf E Kaper (Egyptologist) and Joris D Kila (art historian). | |||||||
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Màlsnes 1: An Early Post-Glacial Coastal Site in Northern Norway
Malsnes is a coastal site dating to c.9500 BP, and located at the outlet of the Bardu-Malselv river system. It was discovered in 1998 and several years of meticulous excavation followed. This book reports the first results of the excavations, which covered an area of roughly 11,300 km sq. Detailed information on the lithic materials presented and set within their wider context provide the reader with unprecedented information on such from this part of Norway. | |||||||
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Conferences we will be attending TAG 2008: The Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference |
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