In September 2022 Oxbow's bookshop and distribution business merged with Pen & Sword Books, a family run independent publisher of history books. As Casemate UK, this new distribution business will continue to bring you the best books in the field of archaeology and related disciplines from our partner publishers. The Oxbow Books publishing imprint remains as a separate entity, still sold and distributed exclusively by us. Browse the archaeology subjects below, or visit our Ancient History and Medieval History books landing pages in the menus above.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 189
ISBN: 9781901992519
Pub Date: 20 Jul 2005
Series: MoLAS Monograph
Illustrations: 111 b/w and col illus
Description:
Excavations upstream of Roman London bridge in north Southwark uncovered evidence for mid 1st-century AD land reclamation and the establishment of a road and buildings. The waterfront was extended northwards in c AD 80 and new buildings, including rectangular and circular masonry buildings associated with grain storage, were constructed around a newly aligned yard or roadway. In the early 2nd century a prestigious new building complex, established on a different alignment, may have had a military or administrative purpose.
Ranges of rooms, some plastered and elaborately painted, enclosed a courtyard bath suite. Some of these buildings continued in use until the late 4th century.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 285
ISBN: 9781901992458
Pub Date: 20 Jul 2005
Series: MoLAS Monograph
Illustrations: 214 b/w and col illus
Description:
This is an archaeological, architectural and historical study of one of the largest complexes of buildings in the medieval City of London, but one which is largely unknown and of which only two fragments survive above ground today. It is the fifth volume in a series on the monasteries of London. Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate, was the first religious house to be established inside the walls of London after the Norman Conquest, in 11078; one of the earliest Augustinian houses to be established in England; and the first to be dissolved, in 1532.
By 1200 the precinct north of Leadenhall Street and just inside Aldgate was filled with imposing stone buildings, including a large and architecturally impressive church which was the burial place of two of the children of King Stephen in the middle of the 12th century. Londons first mayor, Henry FitzAilwin, was buried in the entrance to the chapter house. In the 16th century the monastery was owned by the Duke of Norfolk, second only to Queen Elizabeth in power, who was executed in 1572 for his part in plots surrounding Mary Queen of Scots. Several modern excavations of 1977 to 1990, many antiquarian drawings, and a ground-floor and a first-floor plan of all the monastery buildings made around 1585 are brought together here for the first time, to reconstruct a fully illustrated and detailed history and archaeology of the priory site. Not only can all the major periods of the priorys building history be suggested and compared with other religious houses in medieval London, but the excavations produced their own surprises, such as evidence of the beginning of the tin-glazed or delftware pottery industry in the 1590s, and a unique Jewish plate of the 18th century.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 304
ISBN: 9781842171486
Pub Date: 10 May 2005
Description:
In 1998 Anna Marguerite McCann received the Gold Medal of the Archaeological Institute of America for her distinguished archaeological achievements. This volume includes the papers presented at a special colloquium held in her honour, along with essays by other colleagues and friends. The volume is divided into two thematic parts: the first reflects Anna McCann's general interests in ancient art and archaeology, especially Greek and Roman sculpture; the other, her specific expertise in underwater and port archaeology and technology.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 56
ISBN: 9781901992540
Pub Date: 05 May 2005
Illustrations: 41 b/w illus
Description:
Excavation ahead of redevelopment by London Underground Limited uncovered flint tools and debitage characteristic of the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods and Early Bronze Age. Activity resumed in the Late Bronze Age. A neonate skeleton of Early Iron Age date was recovered from a rubbish pit near a probable roundhouse.
Two crouched adult inhumations are atypically early Roman. Two horse burials and a dog skeleton are also of Roman date. Thereafter, occupation ceased until post-medieval times. Overall, the work provides invaluable information relating to the development of the landscape beneath the suburbs of modern east London.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 224
ISBN: 9781842171691
Pub Date: 30 Apr 2005
Description:
This volume examines South Uist, a small island in the soutern half of the Outer Hebrides. In the middle of the island lies the township of Bornais. This covers a particularly flat area of land which means that the three mounds can be seen all the more clearly.
These mounds have been identified as being from the Viking period, with evidence of pre-Viking habitation at the site coming from Iron Age sherds. The excavation of the Bornais settlement is a long-term project, which has been going since 1994. This first volume of results of the excavation focuses on Mound 3, but includes a discussion of the topographic and geophysical survey of all the mounds. There is also considerable analysis of the environmental remains and radiocarbon dating.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 128
ISBN: 9781842171431
Pub Date: 11 Mar 2005
Illustrations: b/w illus
Description:
As its title might suggest, this volume sets out to present a new view of Scotland's Neolithic as seen via its monumental structures. The papers brought together here came out of a research day at Cardiff University's School of History and Archaeology in January 2002 and cover a diverse number of topics. They raise questions of ancestry and worldview, and highlight the amount that can be done in examining the settings of monuments.
Pages: 176
ISBN: 9781842171189
Pub Date: 25 Feb 2005
Series: Proceedings of the 9th ICAZ Conference
Pages: 160
ISBN: 9781785704604
Pub Date: 15 Oct 2016
Series: Proceedings of the 9th ICAZ Conference
Description:
Taphonomic studies are a major methodological advance, the effects of which have been felt throughout archaeology. Zooarchaeologists and archaeobotanists were the first to realise how vital it was to study the entire process of how food enters the archaeological record, and taphonomy brought to a close the era when the study of animal bones and plant remains from archaeological sites were regarded mainly as environmental indicators.This volume is indicative of recent developments in taphonomic studies: hugely diverse research areas are being explored, many of which would have been totally unforeseeable only a quarter of a century ago.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 280
ISBN: 9781902937304
Pub Date: 31 Jan 2005
Series: McDonald Institute Monographs
Illustrations: 62 ills., 3 tables
Description:
What is the relationship between mind and ideas on the one hand, and the material things of the world on the other? In recent years, researchers have rejected the old debate about the primacy of the mind or material, and have sought to establish more nuanced understandings of the ways humans interact with their material worlds. In this volume alternative approaches are presented, deriving from a wide variety of theoretical perspectives.
Contributors debate the significance of key thresholds in the human past, including sedentism, domestication, and the emergence of social inequality and their impact on changing patterns of human cognition, symbolic expression, and technological innovation. In its global coverage and its broad theoretical scope, this landmark volume offers an innovative and comprehensive assessment of current thinking and future directions.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 316
ISBN: 9780972435345
Pub Date: 20 Jan 2005
Series: American Furniture Annual
Illustrations: 308 illus. (230 colour). 10 fig. Table. End-paper
Description:
Acknowledged as the journal of record in its field, American Furniture presents new research on furniture design, use, production, and appreciation. Begun in 1993, this award-winning annual provides a comprehensive forum on furniture history, technology, connoisseurship, and conservation by the foremost scholars in the field. It is the only interdisciplinary journal devoted exclusively to furniture made or used in the Americas from the 17th century to the present.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 170
ISBN: 9781842171738
Pub Date: 01 Jan 2005
Series: TRAC
Illustrations: b/w illus, tables
Description:
The fourteenth Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference was held at the University of Durham Department of Archaeology, March 2004. The papers present and discuss information drawn from as wide a range of geographical regions of the Roman Empire as the scope of theoretical and methodological approaches applied. An equally wide selection of subject matter is illustrated, including the ancient economy, historiography and modern perceptions of the Roman world, production, supply and consumption of material culture, social identities and the experience of social space and the landscape.
Contents: Preface; The economy of Roman Britain: Representation and historiography (Kevin Greene) ; Reconstructing syntheses in Romano-British cremation (Jake Weekes) ; Metalworking and Late Roman power: A Study of towns in Later Roman Britain (Adam Rogers) ; Not at random: Evidence for a regionalized coin supply? (Fleur Kemmers) ; Regional identities and the social use of ceramics (Martin Pitts) ; Social and economic aspects of glass recycling (Daniel Keller) ; Interaction and exchange in food production in the Nijmegen frontier area during the Early Roman period (Annemiek Robeerst) ; Brickworks and ladders: Explaining intra-regional diversity of late prehistoric and Roman landscapes in the territory of the Parisi (Mick A Atha) ; Beyond the temple: Blurring the boundaries of 'sacred space' (Eleanor Ghey) ; The cupae of Iberia in their monumental contexts: A study of the relationship between social status and commemoration with barrel-shaped and semi-cylindrical tombstones (Charlotte Tupman) ; The quick and the dead in the extra-urban landscape: The Roman cemetery at Ostia/ Portus as a lived environment (E J Graham) ; Houses, GIS and the micro-topology of Pompeian domestic space (Michael A Anderson) ; Unifying aspects of Roman fortresses (Mark Driessen) .
Format: Paperback
Pages: 33
ISBN: 9780860552796
Pub Date: 31 Dec 2004
Series: East Anglian Archaeology Monograph
Illustrations: 2 b/w pls, 13 b/w figs, 13 tbs
Description:
The medieval moated site at Cedars Wood was investigated in 1980 and 1999, revealing occupation evidence from the Neolithic and Bronze Age, Roman and medieval periods. The latter forms the focus of this report although other finds are listed. Occupied from the 12th to 14th century, the site is thought to have belonged to the Broughton family and comprised an area of approximately one acre enclosed by a shallow moat.
This report discusses the historical background to the site, the excavations and stratigraphy and the finds, revealing why the position and features at Cedars Field make it untypical of moated sites in the region. Summaries are given in English, French and German.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 583
ISBN: 9781852812423
Pub Date: 31 Dec 2004
Series: East Anglian Archaeology Monograph
Illustrations: many b/w pls, illus, figs, tbs
Description:
This is an account of the archaeological work begun in 1985 in response to the development of Stansted as Londons third airport. Originally it was conceived as a medieval landscape project, focusing on the three known sites in the area two of which were thought to be Domesday Manors supplemented by fieldwalking of the entire development area. By 1991 the fieldwalking programme, coupled with large-scale excavations and watching briefs, had transformed our understanding of the settlement landscape of north-west Essex, with the discovery of extensive archaeological deposits dating back to the Neolithic.
The earliest occupation was characterized by Neolithic flint work, and the earliest identified structures were Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age, with one of the largest pottery collections of this date from Essex recovered from a single rubbish pit complex. Both enclosed and open settlements of Middle Iron Age date were excavated. One of these had an impressive entrance-way and substantial corner structures. A complete defended settlement of the Late Iron Age (75-25 BC) was recorded. It contained a sequence of roundhouses placed around a central square structure, interpreted as a shrine. There is evidence for internal planning of the enclosed space and for the economy of the settlement, including luxury imports. Roman settlement was represented by a series of sites with cobbled surfaces and enclosures, dating from the 1st to 4th centuries. A 1st to 2nd-century cremation cemetery comprised family groups of burials. Two of the burials contained spectacular grave goods including bronze, glass and pottery vessels as well as many other items. Environmental evidence demonstrated that agricultural activity continued in the Saxon period although no settlement sites were identified. Occupation flourished in the medieval period, with several sites containing buildings of 12th and 13th century date. The most important of these was a complete farmstead, including barn, dwelling-house, kitchen and byre. All of the medieval sites were abandoned in the late 13th to 14th century. Detailed analysis was undertaken on the upstanding post-medieval buildings, largely 17th century in origin, prior to their removal, and excavation of the below ground remains followed. The report ends by describing the construction of the Second World War airfield and its subsequent transformation as a major international airport.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 162
ISBN: 9781902937250
Pub Date: 31 Dec 2004
Illustrations: b/w figs
Description:
In 1987, Colin Renfrew's Archaeology and Language challenged many perceptions about how one language family spread across large parts of the world. In doing so he re-invigorated an important exchange between archaeologists and historical linguists. At precisely the same time, a quite separate field, human genetics, was making considerable steps forward in the elucidation of human ancestry.
These three parallel lines of enquiry into genes, words, and things have, over the ensuing two decades, entirely transformed our perceptions of the human past. This volume brings together contributors to that transformation from around the world, to honour Colin Renfrew with a series of key papers. They include a number of impressive synthetic statements, as well as case studies at the frontiers of three different branches of research. They range from global accounts of human dispersal through to archaeological, genetic and linguistic studies, illustrating what has been achieved over the past two decades, and the most promising avenues of research for the future.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 198
ISBN: 9781901992380
Pub Date: 12 Dec 2004
Series: MoLAS Monograph
Illustrations: b/w and col illus
Description:
The Cistercian monastery of St Mary Stratford Langthorne once stood on land south of the new Jubilee Line station at Stratford. Excavations 1973-94 recorded large parts of the monastic church, cemetery and related buildings. Topics include the precinct arrangement, architecture and decoration, and the way of life of the inhabitants.
The expansion of the monastic church from a simple cruciform building in the mid 12th century into an aisled presbytery with ambulatory and eastern chapel in the 13th century is notable. The excavated burials (647) are the largest sample from a Cistercian site in Europe and provide evidence for burial customs, patterns of cemetery use and the physical characteristics of the population, including medical care.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 100
ISBN: 9781901992496
Pub Date: 12 Dec 2004
Illustrations: col pls
Description:
In 1991 Spitalfields Market in London's East End was relocated, paving the way for one of the largest and most complex excavations ever launched in London, taking place on a site measuring almost thirteen acres. This superb book tells the story of the excavation and the 2000-year history of the area from the Roman period to the present day. Details on the finds recovered, and the methods and recording systems used, are interspersed with a narrative history of the site.
The book begins with the Roman burial ground and the remains of a wealthy Roman woman and her sarcophagus which became the focus of a memorable episode of Meet the Ancestors . The book then moves on to the medieval period and the 12th-century hospital which was founded at Spitalfields along with its church, infirmaries and other buildings, and burials. Finds from this period are supplemented with broader discussion of life in medieval London, such as disease and medicine, and the changing landscape around the site. During the Reformation, the hospital and priory were closed but the story of the site continued. The land was taken by the Crown, parts of the site were leased, most notably as artillery ground, with new housing and cottage industries to follow. Finds dating to the English Civil War, evidence relating to the transformation of the site from an aristocractic enclave to a suburb of immigrants, the redevelopment of the area in the 17th and 18th centuries, through to the opening of Spitalfields Market in 1682, brings us full circle.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 273
ISBN: 9780954557560
Pub Date: 01 Dec 2004
Illustrations: 12 col pls, 77 b/w illus, 6 tbs
Description:
North west England has largely been neglected in studies of medieval landscapes in favour of the Midlands and East Anglia although it has much to offer. Described here as a `frontier landscape' encompassing the modern regions of Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester, the author discusses changes to the medieval landscape and why these occurred. He outlines and characterises the major period of expansion and economic boom that took place in the north west from 1086 to 1349 and asks why political and military matters seen to have had such an important role in landscape change.
Issues of perceived marginality are also discussed as Higham looks in turn at the local population and their environment, land use and agrarian practices, woodland, forest and pasture, buildings, farms and estates, markets and fairs and the Church and the landscape. A great addition to the series.