Understanding the calendars used by ancient and medieval cultures is essential to the writing of history. Equally important, however, is understanding the basis upon which our current knowledge of these calendars rests. This second volume of Calendars and Years explores the calendars of ancient and medieval China, India, the ancient Jewish world, the medieval Islamic world, and the Maya. Particular attention is given to the preserved evidence on which our understanding of these calendars lie, the modern historiography of their study, and the role of calendars in ancient and medieval society. Topics covered include the origin of the Chinese sexagenary cycle, evidence for the 364-day year in the ancient Jewish world, and the history of attempts to establish a correlation between Mayan dates and the Julian and Gregorian calendars. 176p, b/w illus (Oxbow Books 2011) Praise for Volume I: "Steele has assembled an essential foundation for the further study of calendariography and chronography in the ancient Near East and Egypt." Francesca Rochberg Journal for the History of Astronomy (November 2008) "It is a book from which there are absolute nuggets of incredible information to be mined." Peter A Clayton

This illustrated history presents a history of the Teutonic Order in the Middle Ages; its creation, its role in the Holy Land and on the shores of the Baltic Sea, its expansion in Prussia and the Baltic States. The Teutonic Knights were members of the order of the Teutonic Knights of the Hospital of the Blessed Virgin. They were a military-religious order of knights that restricted membership to Germans. Part of the original Knight Hospitallers, under Hermann von Salza they split from the main branch and founded their own order, taking on a very distinctive white cloak bearing a stark black cross on the left shoulder. A very rich photo album, it includes images of documents, weapons, castles of the Order, with plans and beautiful colour photos of several current Order castles, including Marienburg. The battle of Tannenberg / Grunwald is also mentioned with great pictures of the reconstruction that was performed for the 150th anniversary of the Battle.

The Romans had been at odds with the Gauls for a very long time indeed. Somewhere between 390 and 386 BC, a Senoni warchief called Brennus managed to capture Rome and ransom the city with his famous Vae Victis.The Urbs was then a city whose authority was only relative. Nonetheless, the sack of Latium’s capital, highlighted by Livy in his History of Rome, helped to forge a centuries old loathing between the Romans, ashamed of being forced to capitulate to Brennus, and the Gauls, insolently proud of their triumph.The next step was part of the competition between the ‘Great Powers’ of that period. Independent Gaul was implicated in the global expansionist process of Roman might, which took place throughout the whole of the Mediterranean basin. Finally more pragmatically, Gaul merely became a political pawn in the hands of the triumvirs Pompey, Crassus and Caesar after they took over control of the Republic at the end of its decline, from the 60s BC onwards. It was therefore as a victim of what was at stake quite outside its control that Gaul so dramatically became part of Julius Caesar’s political strategy. Alesia was the final manifestation of this deep mistrust between two peoples.

Great excavations inspire and capture the imagination of both the public and archaeologists alike; sites like Danebury, Sutton Hoo, Maiden Castle, Mucking and York conjure images of great discoveries and leaps in knowledge. But what was it like to participate in these excavations? What is the story of these projects, and what made them great? This is a fascinating and entertaining retrospective documenting some of the seminal British excavations, assessing why they were so significant and why they persist in the memory and folklore of archaeologists today. It is also a social history of the profession and one that should stir memories and dispel (or corroborate) some urban myths that younger archaeologists may be aware of. An impressive list of authors and projects make this a significant contribution to the history and development of British archaeology over the course of the twentieth century. Fourteen chapters describe specific projects: Sutton Hoo, Birdoswald, Maiden Castle, Winchester, Owslebury, Danebury, The Breiddin, Wroxeter, Haddenham, Howe, York, Mucking, West Heslerton and Wharram Percy; six further chapters provide a thematic overview, covering early excavations, the IFA, English Heritage and the commercial sector. The world of archaeology has changed dramatically over the past twenty-five years, not least in becoming a profession. One of the clear messages of this book is the requirement for archaeology that great excavations continue in the future, to inspire another generation of archaeologists. The scope of archaeology may have changed, and the methodologies with it. The politics of excavation have changed too, with a more commercially driven and professional endeavour. But it is still, typically, the direct physical engagement with earth, artefacts, place and people (of the past and the present) that draws us in. This is why excavations matter, and why they can be great.

Epigraphic Approaches to Indus Writing is a comprehensive look at one of the last undeciphered Old World scripts. It has defied decipherment for 90 years because of the terse nature of the texts and the lack of a comprehensive corpus and detailed sign list. This book presents the analysis of a comprehensive, computer-based corpus using the most detailed sign list yet compiled for the Indus script. Custom computer programs allowed the verification of the sign list and the compilation of statistics regarding sign distribution and use. Among the questions addressed are: How do you create an epigraphic database? How do you define a sign? What is the Indus number system like? Where did the Indus script come from and what is the Indus language(s)? Bryan Wells is an archaeologist, epigrapher and geographer who has excavated on the west and east coasts of North America and in Baluchistan (Pakistan). Wells has studied the Indus script since 1992, and holds a PhD in anthropology from Harvard University.

The hills overlooking the north flank of the Rhine valley in the Netherlands are dotted with hundreds of prehistoric burial mounds. Only a few of them were ever investigated by archaeologists and even nowadays the many barrows preserved in the extensive forests of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug are the oldest visible witnesses of a remote but largely unknown prehistoric past. In 2006, a team of archaeologists of the Ancestral Mounds project of Leiden University set out to investigate these age-old monuments. Parts of two mounds at Elst in the municipality of Rhenen were excavated and numerous finds collected by amateur archaeologists were retrieved and studied. As a result, the research team was able to reconstruct the formation and histories of this barrow landscape from 2000 BC onwards. Contrary to what was initially thought, the Elst barrows appeared not to have been situated within a separate ceremonial landscape but were rather closely linked with the world of daily living. Throughout the Bronze Age and Iron Age, people had been "living near the dead". The finds discussed in this book include a rare example of an Early Bronze Age burial mound, examples of pottery deposition, remains of a Middle Bronze Age "Hilversum-Period" settlement and many indications for mundane and ritual uses of the barrows in the later Iron Age. Dr David Fontijn is associate professor in European prehistory at Leiden University and senior research fellow at the TOPOI excellence cluster in Berlin. His research focuses on the Bronze and Iron Age and was awarded several prizes including the Praemium Erasmianum study Prize for his book Sacrificial landscapes .

The east of the Netherlands shows many different types of landscape. This dissertation is the result of interdisciplinary research into the long-term development of landscape and habitation of the province of Overijssel and the region De Achterhoek. Archaeological data are the primary source of information but physical geography, historical geography, palaeobotany and toponomy are incorporated. Van Beek tries to construct an overview of all-important developments between the early prehistory and the medieval period.

The year is 1428, and the war between England and France has been raging for nearly one hundred years. The English control territory to the north of the Loire, but have no control of regions beyond the river. During the summer, the Duke of Bedford decides to eliminate his enemy and besieges Orléans. From October 1428 to May 1429, fierce fighting continues around the town. The situation seems to be lost for the besieged, until the arrival of a young peasant girl named Joan. The exploits of the Maid of Orléans, considered France’s national heroine, lead to the making of her legend. She gained prominence when she overcame the dismissive attitude of veteran commanders and lifted the siege in only nine days, although she was later bunt at the stake for heresy at only nineteen years old.Inspired by her, the French rekindle their taste for victory and go from one success to another, until the decisive battle at Patay. This is an detailed, animated and richly illustrated book which enables the reader to relive these moments of great endeavour.

This biography explores the life of W. J. de Wilde, one of the more mysterious characters in the history of Dutch prehistoric archaeology. He wrote several articles and gave lectures on the "hunebedden", the Dutch megalithic tombs in the first two decades of the 20th century.

This eagerly awaited volume documents the evidence for human activity in the Colne valley at Three Ways Wharf, Uxbridge in the Lateglacial and Early Mesolithic periods. A series of five in situ lithic and faunal scatters, centred on hearth settings on local high points within the valley floor, belong to two main phases of hunter-gatherer activity. The earlier phase, characterised by Lateglacial bruised-edge 'long blades' of the north German Ahrensburgian technocomplex, associated with reindeer and horse, is dated to c 10,000 BP. The succeeding Early Mesolithic phase is typified by broad, obliquely backed flint points, associated with a fauna dominated by red and roe deer, and dated some 800 radiocarbon years later at c 9200 BP. Detailed analyses of the important faunal and lithic assemblages, bolstered by an extensive refitting programme, have been fully integrated to provide new and striking behavioural explanations. These hunter-gatherer groups can now be seen as groups of people intent on pursuing their own independent and socially defined goals, and no longer solely in terms of their adaptive responses to environmental pressures. Three Ways Wharf will come to take its place alongside other iconic sites of the period such as Star Carr, Broxbourne and Thatcham.

The Palaeolithic is the only period in archaeology that can be studied globally. In the last half century one prehistorian, Sir Paul Mellars, has changed the shape and direction of such studies, adding immeasurably to what we know about humanity's earliest origins and the timing of crucial transitions in the journey. The Upper Palaeolithic Revolution in global perspective is a collection of essays in his honour. Contributions cover both his own area of primary interest (Franco-Cantabria) as well as many other regions of the world, all of which he has considered while writing about the Human Revolution in its wider geographical context. Papers in this volume examine the archaeological record of the Upper Pleistocene from Australia, through eastern and western Asia and Africa to northern Spain and the classical Périgord region of France, a cornerstone region which Mellars has been researching and publishing on since 1965. To papers on chronology, typology, subsistence and social complexity are added historical and theoretical contributions, along with a biography. These illustrate not only Paul Mellars's impact on the current shape and direction of Palaeolithic studies but also how the subject has changed and continues to change.

This volume, the third in the series of reports on the excavations carried out at the Canhasan I mound in south-central Anatolia in the years 1961-1968, follows the publication of the stratification and structures (Canhasan Sites 1) and of the pottery (Canhasan Sites 2). Here, the primary aim is to present a descriptive account and catalogue of the registered small-finds. The small-finds have been grouped, described and then illustrated according to material, e. g., clay, stone, bone. The separation into discrete groups and the description of individual objects have both been deliberately simplified, the intention being to provide (where possible chronologically) an orderly arrangement from which those interested are able to scan and note the range of materials and, if they wish, to take up relevant aspects or indeed to inspect the objects for further study and research. The location of the site at Canhasan is set unequivocally between East and West, close to, if not on, a major land route from the Near East to the Aegean and to Europe. Inevitably, in this geographical context, some materials, such as obsidian and copper, will catch the eye. These have a utilitarian purpose and introduce the factor of distance between source and Canhasan. One object, however, - an ivory bracelet - not only emphasises, by its presence at Canhasan, the distant source of the material but points directly to the nature and dynamics of trade/transfer/exchange in the 6th millennium. The bracelet documents the role of personal display and human vanity as an incentive for material acquisition.

Following the success of the two works on Hastings — both now out of print — is finally a book entirely dedicated to this century. Not only does it present garments from Normandy, based off of the Bayeux Tapestry, as well as those of Eastern France and Belgium, but also clothing from other regions of the Empire. Additionally, it presents the various buckles, jewelry, and trimmings popular during the period. This edition will also examine the objects of daily life, providing the most current study of such a great century in history. Leading specialists have provided expert commentary based off of 12th century illuminations, archeological finds, and historical reconstructions.

How did ancient Europeans materialise memory? Material Mnemonics: Everyday Practices in Prehistoric Europe provides a fresh approach to the archaeological study of memory. Drawing on case studies from the British Isles, Scandinavia, central Europe, Greece, Italy and the Iberian Peninsula that date from the Neolithic through the Iron Age, the book's authors explore the implications of our understanding of the past when memory and mnemonic practices are placed in the center of cultural analyses. They discuss monument building, personal adornment, relic-making, mortuary rituals, the burning of bodies and houses and the maintenance of domestic spaces and structures over long periods of time. Material Mnemonics engages with contemporary debates on the intersection of memory, identity, embodiment, and power and challenges archaeologists to consider how materiality both provokes and constrains the mnemonic processes in everyday life.

Flint was the primary raw material used for tools until c. 4000 years ago. Its properties allow the production of very sharp edges, which made it essential in many activities related to craft and subsistence. The fact that flint tools have been used for a long period of time almost everywhere in the world makes them an important source of information in the study of prehistory. Several general questions about this material are of interest to archaeologists: where was the raw material obtained? How can we distinguish between man-made artefacts and natural pieces of flint? What techniques can be used to work flint, and how can we recognise them? How were the different tools used in an effective way? This book tries to answer all of these questions by describing the subsequent stages: acquisition of raw material, flint knapping techniques, recognition of pseudo-artefacts and geofacts, typology of common tool types found in northwestern Europe and discussion of the most effective way to use these tools. The book is richly illustrated with full colour figures. Text in Dutch.

Ancient Warfare Special 2: 'Core of the Legion' examines the history, structure, and tactics of the centuria, a fundmanetal building block of the ancient Roman army. This special contains the following articles: - Paul McDonnell-Staff, 'Core of the legion - Historical introduction' - Jona Lendering, 'Hadrian and his soldiers - The Lambaesis Inscription' - Duncan B. Campbell, 'Backbone of the legions - Some centurions and their careers' - Graham Sumner, 'The centurio from Colchester - Reconstructing Marcus Favonius Facilis' - Philip Matyszak, 'Learning on the job and in camp - Training the centuria' - Ross Cowan, 'The centuria in battle - Tactical organisation and combat' - Michael J. Taylor, 'Records on bark, sherds and papyrus - Small unit administration in the Roman army' - Christian Koepfer, 'Keeping the legionaries clothed and fed - Logistics of the centuria' - Graham Sumner, 'Dressed for the occasion - three legionaries brought to life' - Michael C. Bishop, 'Keeping the weapons - Acquisition, ownership and storage' - Michael Thomas, 'With bodies completely protected - Roman armour of the 1st-2nd centuries AD' - Suggestions for museums