Böcker i British-serien

This book examines the sometimes fraught interactions and relationships between contemporary Pagan groups and archaeological heritage managers in the first decade and a half of the 21st century. It uses ethnographic field research, conducted by the author between 2008 and 2013, and literature analysis to analyse those interactions. The two key areas examined are access to, interpretation of and preservation of ancient sites, and the archaeological examination, storage and display or reburial of ancient human remains. The book includes a detailed analysis of the reasons presented in the discourse of contestation and the underlying attitudes behind the issues. It concludes with some thoughts on how heritage managers and archaeologists may better manage their interactions with the Pagan community in the future.

Inclusive Visions explores the embodied experience, situated interactions and identities of young blind and partially sighted visitors in the museum space. It investigates how they make meaning and form identities by physically encountering objects, resources and the environment with their companions and other visitors. The visit experience of blind and partially sighted participants is detailed at three London museums: the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Wallace Collection and the Museum of London. Using qualitative audio, fieldnotes, and video-based research methods, it provides a deep insight into how meaning-making and identity are formed in perceptual experiences through bodily states and shared situated action. How different characteristics of the embodied practice of blind and partially sighted visitors emerge, and how meaning-making and identity formation are enabled, is put in a holistic context.

Dying Young explores childhood morbidity and mortality during the 1st to 5th century AD. The detailed osteological analysis of 953 non-adult (0 - 17 years) skeletons from 15 sites paints a rich picture of the lived realities of Romano-British children in towns and settlements of the countryside. Health and disease are examined under the themes of infant mortality, growth, diet, working lives, infection, access to resources and exploitation. Skeletal evidence indicates higher status of the urban population, which is in stark contrast to nutritional stress and a tough living environment in the countryside. The data suggests exploitation of the rural indigenous population, as well as rural-to-urban migration of adolescents, potentially in the search of work. Patterns in Romano-British childhood health are considered in context by comparison with similar studies for Iron Age and post-medieval periods. This volume highlights the importance of skeletons, particularly those of non-adults, as a multi-faceted resource for understanding the forgotten and marginalised people of Roman Britain.

The Late Bronze Age in Britain (c. 1250-750 BC) was a period of major economic and social reorganisation: agricultural and settlement patterns, funerary and depositional practices all saw significant change. This book examines the evidence for the occupation and enclosure of hilltops in Atlantic western Britain during this formative period. Focussing on why communities started to come together at this time to construct these impressive monuments, this book provides information about how these communities were organising the landscape during a time when the first effects of climatic deterioration were beginning to be felt. Concentrating on Atlantic western Britain (encompassing Wales, the Marches, and south-west England), it is shown that, far from being a peripheral region, communities here were looking west to Ireland, developing hilltop sites right across the landscape, providing a safe and central location for communal gatherings and pastoral farming activities.

Facing the Enemy is a GIS-based examination of the relationship between Roman fortifications occupied during the Flavian period (AD 77-86/90), and their Scottish landscape setting. It undertakes spatial analysis of the positioning, orientation, intervisibility and interconnectivity of the early legionary fortresses, forts, fortlets, camps and towers. The study combines mapping data, remote sensing technologies, along with archaeological evidence in an extensive GIS database, and takes a systematic approach to analysing the landscapes surrounding the fortifications.The work demonstrates that Flavian fortifications were almost always located in positions which enabled the military to control movement through the landscape, with coastal sites frequently guarding access to river networks and fortifications further upstream. The study concludes that the military strategy in Flavian Scotland was not to block all movement through the landscape as such a strategy would have been impossible in such a varied setting, but rather to control the main corridors of movement, and by extension, exert control and authority over the indigenous population.

Results from the excavation of this high-status Roman villa confirm its occupation throughout the Roman period and beyond, illuminating lifestyle and landscape through detailed analysis of its architecture, finds and environmental remains. This site includes rectilinear enclosures and associated Roman style buildings dating from the mid-1st century, and represents the earliest known proto-villa in Dorset. The buildings resemble those excavated in the south-east of Britain, with the acquisition of building materials, pottery, glassware, household, personal items and coinage confirming the economic vitality and wealth needed to sustain an elite lifestyle. Phases of construction and demolition are discussed, highlighting dramatic changes in the use of the site. There is also significant evidence of metalworking, textile production and hunting activities across the period of occupation. Discussion is supported throughout by comprehensive site plans, photographs and artefact illustrations. This excavation presents unparalleled evidence for villa development and decline, with relevance not only to those interested in Roman Britain, but also Northwest Europe more generally.

The Carthusians were a small monastic order founded in France in the late 11th century. Their dedication to the hermit lifestyle required a unique living situation that included individual housing for each monk, and a group of lay brothers who carried out the day-to-day tasks and interacted with the local community.This volume examines the Carthusian Order in Great Britain and Ireland from an archaeological standpoint and highlights the role of the lay brother in the everyday life of the charterhouse. Using the case studies of Witham Charterhouse and Hinton Priory in Somerset, the layouts of the lay brothers' complexes are explored through geophysical survey and comparison with Carthusian material culture assemblages from other British charterhouses. This method of investigation provides a singular view of the lay brother in medieval society and for the first time proposes a layout of an English Carthusian lower house.

Death in the Iron Age of Eastern England explores the treatment of the non-cremated dead from 800BC - c.AD60 in what is now eastern England. The research presented identifies large-scale patterns in post-mortem treatment, furthering existing debates around excarnation practices, inhumation traditions and the 'invisible dead'. The region has seen comparatively little in-depth study in recent years, while the quantity of excavated material has increased exponentially due to the rise of development-led archaeology. This book gathers and presents the known data to shed light on an under-researched part of Iron Age Britain through the study of complete inhumations, partial skeletal remains and disarticulated human bones. The data is interpreted via integrated methodological approaches that combine contextual archaeology, osteology and bone taphonomy to better understand post-mortem processes, regional variation and the role of the dead in Iron Age societies.

Whether certain ancient British communities could be termed Celtic has been an ongoing debate since data first appeared in the 1950s.This study attempts to determine if Gwent could be defined as Celtic. Earlier research suggests that it is possible and that its landscape was managed through multiple estates. However, when combined with newer evidence and analysis, a picture emerges of the Silures from the earliest Iron Age until the arrival of the Normans, suggesting that they should also be considered. This book also focuses on the evolution of Silurian identity over time and the academic debates surrounding Celticity and multiple estates. The patterns of cultural continuity and their relationship with south-eastern Wales are analysed in depth. Evidence is drawn from a variety of sources, such as material culture, proof of land management strategies, comments from Classical authors, medieval documents and secondary interpretations.

It is commonly recognised that in the Anglo-Saxon world, the naming of geographical features and settlement names was far from arbitrary. Settlement names were specifically descriptive, communicating more than simply the name of a landscape aspect. Previous examinations of settlements containing the Old English term worth, along with its cognates worthy and wardine, have been limited to small regions or county-level analyses. Uniquely, this monograph examines the characteristics of these places in the wider context of the kingdom of Mercia (6th century AD-9th century AD). Worths are found clustered near boundaries and at the junctions of major lines of communication, as well as shared by similar topographic features. Mercia controlled territory spanning from Offa's Dyke in the west to the North Sea, and the Thames Valley in the south to the rivers Humber and Dee in the north. This expanse allows for the study of a broad geographical and political context. Offa's Dyke, the most prominent feature of Mercian power, confirms the assertion of local control in defence of the kingdom's land wealth. The remarkable placement of worths throughout the landscape hints at a level of control previously unrecorded in Anglo-Saxon England.

The importance of food processing in the past is evident from the frequent occurrence of milling tools on archaeological sites. During the Roman period in Britain, imported lava milling tools from the Mayen region of Germany complement those of indigenous stone types, but distribution and use of lava in the province has never been systematically examined. This research presents the first study of this material in Roman Britain, cataloguing and analysing 2,707 lava milling tools from 564 sites. A further 601 sites where lava was absent but other lithologies occurred have also been recorded. Analysis was completed using an object biography approach to investigate the key stages of manufacture, distribution, primary use, reuse/modification, and deposition at various case study sites to reflect lava milling tool use in rural, urban, and military contexts.

The practice of wetland deposition in prehistoric periods is vital for understanding socio-cultural traditions, localised behaviours, and beliefs. Terrestrial deposition has dominated much of the deposition theory, with the importance of wetland deposition recognised only episodically. This study aims to demonstrate wetland deposition's significance and dynamic functions during the British Iron Age, comparing case studies in Wales and Scotland. Through this, it is shown that deposition practices in these regions reaffirmed social and cultural identity, tradition, and collective memory through establishing and evolving mnemonics, while simultaneously performing in a functional and traditional capacity. While wetlands have historically been considered environments denoting separation and isolation, the archaeological evidence is contradictory. Wetlands and wetland environments are, instead, centres of socio-cultural practice and sustainability, especially during civil unrest and economic instability.