Home Partner Publishers Series Blog About Us Catalogues Contact Us
Archaeology & Ancient History
Arts & Architecture
Aviation
Hobbies & Lifestyle
Humanities
Medieval World
Military History
Modelling & Transport
Modern Warfare
Natural World
Numismatics
Science & Technology
Social Sciences & Culture
Theology & Religion
Oxbow Books

Oxbow Books is a leading publisher in the fields of archaeology, ancient history and medieval studies, with an international reputation for quality and affordability. Oxbow's archaeology publishing covers all periods from earliest prehistory through classical archaeology, the ancient Near East, Egyptology, the Middle Ages and post-medieval archaeology. They publish a wide variety of books including scholarly monographs, edited collections of papers, and excavation and research reports in related fields such as archaeological practice and theory, archaeozoology, and environmental, landscape and maritime archaeology.

Founded in Oxford in 1983 by academic and museum archaeologist, David Brown, Oxbow Books has evolved and expanded significantly over the years. Now celebrating their 40th anniversary, Oxbow remains dedicated to the quality of their publishing for readers, and the contribution their books bring to the scholarly and professional communities more broadly.

Neolithic Settlement in Ireland and Western Britain Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 232
ISBN: 9781782979869
Pub Date: 31 Jul 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: 116 b/w figs, 13 tbs
Description:
The past few years have seen an upsurge in the numbers of known Neolithic settlements in Ireland. Many of these sites have been excavated by archaeologists based in field units, but few are well-known to the wider archaeological community. The papers in this volume which were presented at a conference held at Queen's University, Belfast in 2001, provided a forum for a discussion of the new Neolithic material from Ireland in its wider geographical context.
North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles X Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 328
ISBN: 9781785701566
Pub Date: 06 Jul 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Series: Ancient Textiles
Illustrations: 299 illus, 31 tables
Description:
The NESAT symposium has grown from the first meeting in 1981 which was attended by 23 scholars, to over 100 at the tenth meeting that took place in Copenhagen in 2008, with virtually all areas of Europe represented. The 50 papers from the conference presented here show the vibrance of the study of archaeological textiles today. Examples studied come from the Bronze Age, Neolithic, the Iron Age, Roman, Viking, the Middle Ages and post-Medieval, and from a wide range of countries including Norway, Czech Republic, Poland, Greece, Germany, Lithuania, Estonia and the Netherlands.
Recent Advances in Ageing and Sexing Animal Bones Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 272
ISBN: 9781785700422
Pub Date: 30 Jun 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: black/white illustrations
Description:
This volume in the ICAZ series deals with the technical advances made over the last twenty years in the field of ageing and sexing animal bones. The analysis of ancient DNA holds great possibilities for sexing certain faunal assemblages (though by no means all), which is an urgent issue in the study of hunting and animal husbandry. It can be assumed that our forebears used more subtle taxonomic criteria than we do today, and it is important therefore that we are able to recognise traits that will allow for more accurate classification in terms of calendar age or sex.
The end of the lake-dwellings in the Circum-Alpine region Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 208
ISBN: 9781782978602
Pub Date: 30 Jun 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: b/w and colour illustrations
Description:
After more than 3500 years of occupation in the Neolithic and Bronze Age, the many lake-dwellings’ around the Circum–Alpine region ‘suddenly’ came to an end. Throughout that period alternating phases of occupation and abandonment illustrate how resilient lacustrine populations were against change: cultural/environmental factors might have forced them to relocate temporarily, but they always returned to the lakes. So why were the lake-dwellings finally abandoned and what exactly happened towards the end of the Late Bronze Age that made the lake-dwellers change their way of life so drastically?
RRP: £45.00
Autopsy in Athens Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 224
ISBN: 9781782978565
Pub Date: 16 Jun 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: b/w and colour illustrations
Description:
This is an exciting time to study in Athens. The “rescue” excavations of recent years, conducted during construction of the Metro system and in preparation for the 2004 Olympic Games, combined with major restoration projects and a new enthusiasm for fresh examination of old material, using new techniques and applications, brings new perspectives and answers on many aspects of the ancient city of Athens and life, politics and religion in Attica. The 15 papers presented here contribute new findings that result from intensive, first-hand examinations of the archaeological and epigraphical evidence.
RRP: £60.00
Death Embodied Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 174
ISBN: 9781782979432
Pub Date: 16 Jun 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Series: Studies in Funerary Archaeology
Illustrations: b/w
Description:
In April 1485, a marble sarcophagus was found on the outskirts of Rome. It contained the remains of a young Roman woman so well-preserved that she appeared to have only just died and the sarcophagus was placed on public view, attracting great crowds. Such a find reminds us of the power of the dead body to evoke in the minds of living people, be they contemporary (survivors or mourners) or distanced from the remains by time, a range of emotions and physical responses, ranging from fascination to fear, and from curiosity to disgust.
Trends in Biological Anthropology 1 Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 160
ISBN: 9781782978367
Pub Date: 16 Jun 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: b/w illustrations
Description:
This first volume in the series Trends in Biological Anthropology presents 11 papers. The study of modern baboons as proxies to understand extinct hominin species’ diet and the interpretation of skeletal degenerative joint disease on the skeletal remains of extant primates are presented as case studies using methods and standards usually applied to human remains. The methodological theme continues with an assessment of the implications for interpretation of different methods used to record Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH) and on the use and interpretation of three dimensional modelling to generate pictures of the content of collective graves.
RRP: £49.95
The Archaeology of Cremation Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
ISBN: 9781782978480
Pub Date: 15 Jun 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Series: Studies in Funerary Archaeology
Illustrations: b/w and colour illustrations
Description:
Human societies have disposed of their dead in a variety of ways. However, while considerable attention has been paid to bodies that were buried, comparatively little work has been devoted to understanding the nature of cremated remains, despite their visibility through time. It has been argued that this is the result of decades of misunderstanding regarding the potential information that this material holds, combined with properties that make burned bone inherently difficult to analyse.
RRP: £38.00
Cypriot Cultural Details Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 234
ISBN: 9781785700668
Pub Date: 31 May 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: black/white illustrations
Description:
There are countless references to Cyprus in Venice: in palaces, primarily that of Queen Caterina Corner, in the church of Saints Giovanni e Paolo, where the skin of Mark Antonius Bragadin (the staunch defender of Famagusta) is guarded, in the spices, and especially in the wine of Cyprus (Commandaria), that is today still recalled in Venetian sayings. The Venetian past, too, has many references in Cyprus where evidence is focused on the fortresses and fortifications of Nicosia, Famagusta and Kerynia and in the lions that adorn them as well as in traditional dishes and language. The papers presented here have been selected from 30 given at the 10th Annual Meeting of young researchers in Cypriot archaeology (POCA 10), held in Venice where it celebrated two important events: the 500th anniversary of the death of Caterina Cornaro (1454–1510) and the twinning of the cities of Venice and Larnaca.
First Light Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 210
ISBN: 9781782979517
Pub Date: 14 May 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Series: Oxbow Insights in Archaeology
Description:
Newgrange in Ireland is a world famous monument not only because of its vast scale and elaborate megalithic art, but also because of its renowned alignment to the sun on the winter solstice. Yet the origins of Newgrange remain somewhat mysterious. Across Ireland over two hundred similar passage tombs are found, some of which are considerably older than Newgrange.
RRP: £15.99
Defining the Sacred Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 200
ISBN: 9781782976790
Pub Date: 08 May 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: b/w illustrations
Description:
Religion is a phenomenon that is inseparable from human society. It brings about a set of emotional, ideological and practical elements that are pervasive in the social fabric of any society and characterizable by a number of features. these include the establishment of intermediaries in the relationship between humans and the divine; the construction of ceremonial places for worshipping the gods and practicing ritual performances; and the creation ritual paraphernalia.
RRP: £38.00
What the Victorians Threw Away Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 120
ISBN: 9781782978756
Pub Date: 08 May 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: 90 colour illustrations
Description:
The people who lived in England before the First World War now inhabit a realm of yellow photographs. Theirs is a world fast fading from ours, yet they do not appear overly distant. Many of us can remember them as being much like ourselves.
English Inland Trade 1430-1540 Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 184
ISBN: 9781782978244
Pub Date: 01 May 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: b/w and colour illus.
Description:
The Southampton brokage books are the best source for English inland trade before modern times . Internal trade always matched overseas trade. Between 1430 and 1540 the brokage series records all departures through Southampton’s Bargate, the owner, carter, commodity, quantity, destination and date, and many deliveries too.
Ritual in Early Bronze Age Grave Goods Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 616
ISBN: 9781782976943
Pub Date: 30 Apr 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: Fully colour illustrated, includes CD
Description:
The exotic and impressive grave goods from burials of the ‘Wessex Culture’ in Early Bronze Age Britain are well known and have inspired influential social and economic hypotheses, invoking the former existence of chiefs, warriors and merchants and high-ranking pastoralists. Alternative theories have sought to explain how display of such objects was related to religious and ritual activity rather than to economic status, and that groups of artefacts found in certain graves may have belonged to religious specialists. This volume is the result of a major research project that aimed to investigate Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age grave goods in relation to their possible use as special dress accessories or as equipment employed within ritual activities and ceremonies.
RRP: £90.00
The Archaeology of Caves in Ireland Cover The Archaeology of Caves in Ireland Cover
Format: 
Hardback Paperback
Pages: 340
ISBN: 9781782978138
Pub Date: 30 Apr 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: b/w and colour illustrations
Pages: 336
ISBN: 9781789255706
Pub Date: 15 Nov 2020
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Illustrations: b/w and colour illustrations
Description:
The Archaeology of Caves in Ireland is a ground-breaking and unique study of the enigmatic, unseen and dark silent world of caves. People have engaged with caves for the duration of human occupation of the island, spanning 10,000 years. In prehistory, subterranean landscapes were associated with the dead and the spirit world, with evidence for burials, funerary rituals and votive deposition.
The Language of Ramesses Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 282
ISBN: 9781782978688
Pub Date: 30 Apr 2015
Imprint: Oxbow Books
Description:
François Neveu enables the reader to explore the Ramesside age through an understanding of Late Egyptian. This phase corresponds to the language spoken from the 17th to the 24th dynasty, which became a written language – used for private letters, administrative, legal and literary texts, as well as some official inscriptions – during the Amarna period (circa 1364 BC). The first part of the book covers the basics of the grammar, the morphology, while the second part is devoted to the syntax, covering first the verbal system and then the nominal forms.
© Pen and Sword Books Limited 2025. Registered in England No. 2527258.
Registered Office: 47 Church Street, Barnsley, S70 2AS.