A Parting of the Ways: Carnap, Cassirer, and Heidegger

Since the 1930s, philosophy has been divided into two camps: the analytic tradition which prevails in the Anglophone world and the continental tradition which holds sway over the European continent. A Parting of the Ways looks at the origins of this split through the lens of one defining episode: the disputation in Davos, Switerzland, in 1929, between the two most eminent German philosophers, Ernst Cassirer and Martin Heidegger. This watershed debate was attended by Rudolf Carnap, a representative of the Vienna Circle of logical positivists. Michael Friedman shows how philosophical differences interacted with political events. Both Carnap and Heidegger viewed their philosophical efforts as tied to their radical social outlooks, with Carnap on the left and Heidegger on the right, while Cassirer was in the conciliatory classical tradition of liberal republicanism. The rise of Hitler led to the emigration from Europpe of most leading philosophers, including Carnap and Cassirer, leaving Heidegger alone on the continent.

Brand: Open Court

The Continental Drift Controversy: Introduction of Seafloor Spreading (Volume 3)

Resolution of the sixty year debate over continental drift, culminating in the triumph of plate tectonics, changed the very fabric of Earth Science. This three-volume treatise on the continental drift controversy is the first complete history of the origin, debate and gradual acceptance of this revolutionary theory. Based on extensive interviews, archival papers and original works, Frankel weaves together the lives and work of the scientists involved, producing an accessible narrative for scientists and non-scientists alike. This third volume describes the golden age of marine geology and geophysics. Fuelled by the Cold War, US and British workers led the way in making discoveries and forming new hypotheses, especially about the origin of oceanic ridges. Discovery of transform faults in the ocean crust and symmetric patterns of geomagnetic reversals either side of mid-oceanic ridges in the mid 1960s led to the rapid acceptance of seafloor spreading and the birth of plate tectonics.

Brand: Cambridge University Press

Permissible Dose: A History of Radiation Protection in the Twentieth Century

How much radiation is too much? J. Samuel Walker examines the evolution, over more than a hundred years, of radiation protection standards and efforts to ensure radiation safety for nuclear workers and for the general public. The risks of radiation-caused by fallout from nuclear bomb testing, exposure from medical or manufacturing procedures, effluents from nuclear power, or radioactivity from other sources-have aroused more sustained controversy and public fear than any other comparable industrial or environmental hazard. Walker clarifies the entire radiation debate, showing that permissible dose levels are a key to the principles and practices that have prevailed in the field of radiation protection since the 1930s, and to their highly charged political and scientific history as well.

Brand: University of California Press

The Greatest Game: The Day that Bucky, Yaz, Reggie, Pudge, and Company Played the Most Memorable Game in Baseball's Most Intense Rivalry

In this spellbinding book, Richard Bradley tells the story of what was surely the greatest major league game of our lifetime and perhaps in the history of professional baseball. That game, played at Fenway Park on the afternoon of October 4, 1978, was the culmination of one of the most tense, emotionally wrought seasons ever, between baseball's two most bitter rivals, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Both teams finished this tumultuous season with identical 99-64 records, forcing a one-game playoff. With a one-run lead and two outs, with the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, the entire season came down to one at-bat and to one swing of the bat. It came down, as both men eerily predicted to themselves the night before, to the aging Red Sox legend, Carl Yastrzemski, and the Yankees' free-agent power reliever, Rich "Goose" Gossage. Anyone who calls himself a baseball fan knows the outcome of that confrontation. And yet such are the literary powers of the author that we are pulled back in time to that late-afternoon moment and become filled anew with all the taut sense of drama that sports has to offer, as if we don't know what happened. As if the thoughts swirling around in the heads of pitcher and hitter are still fresh, both still hopeful of controlling events. That climactic game occurred thirty seasons ago and yet it still captures our imagination. In this delightful work of sports literature, we watch the game unfold pitch by pitch, inning by inning, but Bradley is up to something more ambitious than just recounting this wonderful game. He also tells us the stories of the participants - how they got to that moment in their lives and careers, what was at stake for them personally - including the rivalries within the rivalry, such as catcher Carlton Fisk versus catcher Thurman Munson, and Billy Martin versus everyone. Using a narrative that alternates points of view between the teams, Bradley reacquaints us with a rich roster of characters - Freddy Lynn, Ron Guidry, Catfish Hunter, Mike Torrez, Jerry Remy, Lou Piniella, George Scott, and Reggie Jackson. And, of course, Bucky Dent, who craved just such a moment in the sun - a validation he had vainly sought from the father he barely knew. Not a book intended to celebrate a triumph or lament a loss, The Greatest Game will be embraced in both Boston and New York, with fans of both teams recalling again the talented young men they once gave their hearts to. And fans everywhere will be reminded how utterly gripping a single baseball game can be and that the rewards of being a fan lie not in victory but in caring beyond reason, even decades after the fact.

Brand: Free Press

History and Memory in the Age of Enslavement: Becoming Merina in Highland Madagascar, 1770-1822

In this story of the impact of slave trade on an insular African society, Larson explores how the people of highland Madagascar reshaped their social identity and their cultural practices. As Larson argues, the modern Merina ethnic identity and some of its key cultural traditions were fashioned and refashioned through localized experiences of enslavement and mercantile capitalism and by a tension-filled political dialogue among common highland Malagasy and their rulers. Larson's analysis expands traditional definitions of the African diaspora to include forcible exile of African slaves within the African continent as well as areas external to it. By locating Merina history within wider narratives of merchant capitalism, African history, African diaspora, and Indian Ocean history, Larson has produced a book that both recognizes the diversity of historical experience and highlights the structural connections of intercontinentally joined systems of forced labor.

Brand: Heinemann

Enemies: A History of the FBI

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post? New York Daily News? Slate? Fast-paced, fair-minded, and fascinating, Tim Weiner?s Enemies turns the long history of the FBI into a story that is as compelling, and important, as today?s headlines. Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Oath NATIONAL BESTSELLER Enemies is the first definitive history of the FBI?s secret intelligence operations, from an author whose work on the Pentagon and the CIA won him the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. We think of the FBI as America?s police force. But secret intelligence is the Bureau?s first and foremost mission. Enemies is the story of how presidents have used the FBI as the most formidable intelligence force in American history. Here is the hidden history of America?s hundred-year war on terror. The FBI has fought against terrorists, spies, anyone it deemed subversive?and sometimes American presidents. The FBI?s secret intelligence and surveillance techniques have created a tug-of-war between protecting national security and infringing upon civil liberties. It is a tension that strains the very fabric of a free republic. Praise for Enemies? Outstanding. The New York Times? Absorbing. a sweeping narrative that is all the more entertaining because it is so redolent with screw-ups and scandals. Los Angeles Times From the Hardcover edition.

Brand: Random House Audio

How Cancer Crossed the Color Line

In the course of the 20th century, cancer went from being perceived as a white woman's nemesis to a "democratic disease" to a fearsome threat in communities of color. Drawing on film and fiction, on medical and epidemiological evidence, and on patients' accounts, Keith Wailoo tracks this transformation in cancer awareness, revealing how not only awareness, but cancer prevention, treatment, and survival have all been refracted through the lens of race. Spanning more than a century, the book offers a sweeping account of the forces that simultaneously defined cancer as an intensely individualized and personal experience linked to whites, often categorizing people across the color line as racial types lacking similar personal dimensions. Wailoo describes how theories of risk evolved with changes in women's roles, with African-American and new immigrant migration trends, with the growth of federal cancer surveillance, and with diagnostic advances, racial protest, and contemporary health activism. The book examines such powerful and transformative social developments as the mass black migration from rural south to urban north in the 1920s and 1930s, the World War II experience at home and on the war front, and the quest for civil rights and equality in health in the 1950s and '60s. It also explores recent controversies that illuminate the diversity of cancer challenges in America, such as the high cancer rates among privileged women in Marin County, California, the heavy toll of prostate cancer among black men, and the questions about why Vietnamese-American women's cervical cancer rates are so high. A pioneering study, How Cancer Crossed the Color Line gracefully documents how race and gender became central motifs in the birth of cancer awareness, how patterns and perceptions changed over time, and how the "war on cancer" continues to be waged along the color line.

Brand: Oxford University Press, USA

The Hocking Valley Railway

The first comprehensive history of the Hocking Valley Railway ever published fills a gap in the literature. Miller has written the definitive history of this railroad,? says Richard Francaviglia, author of Hard Places: Reading the Landscape of America's Historic Mining Districts. The Hocking Valley Railway was once Ohio's longest rail line, filled with a seemingly endless string of coal trains. Although coal was the main business, the railroad also carried iron and salt-and kept the finest passenger service in the State of Ohio. Despite the fact that the Hocking Valley was such a large railroad, with a huge economic and social impact, very little is known about it. The Hocking Valley Railway traces the journey of a company that began in 1867 as the Columbus and Hocking Valley, built to haul coal from Athens to Columbus. Extensions of the line and consolidation of several branches ultimately created the Columbus, Hocking Valley and Toledo. This was a 345-mile railway, extending from the Lake Erie port of Toledo through Columbus, and on to the Ohio River port of Pomeroy. The history of the Hocking Valley, as with other railroads, is one of boom times and depression. By the 1920s, the Hocking fields were largely depleted, and the mass of track south of Columbus became a backwater, while the Toledo Division boomed. The corporate name has been gone for more than three quarters of a century, but the Hocking Valley lives on as an integral part of railroad successor CSX. Historians and railroad enthusiasts will find much to savor in the story of this ever-changing company and the managers who ran it. The Hocking Valley Railway, complete with more than 150 photographs and illustrations, also documents a historic transformation in Midwest transportation from slow canalboats to speedy railcars. The author, Edward H. Miller is retired from Hocking Valley successor CSX. This is his first book, which has been over thirty years in the making.

Brand: Ohio University Press

My Fellow Americans: Presidents Speak to the People in Troubled Times

The most interesting and inspiring presidential speeches, from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama. From Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama, American presidents have faced unprecedented challenges at home and abroad. From the onset of the Great Depression, through World War II, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War, Desert Storm and the War on Terror, American presidents have warned and rallied the nation during each crisis. Presidents have also addressed the people in times of triumph - the creation of the United Nations, advances in civil rights, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. My Fellow Americans includes the speeches that capture times of challenge, conflict and change, with such memorable phrases as "We have nothing to fear but fear itself," "Ask not what your country can do for you" and "Begin again the work of remaking America," which have entered the vernacular and have become a part of our heritage. This book is a record of how our presidents established their leadership through thick and thin. The language of the speeches reflects the country's mood over decades of fear and hope and the ongoing faith and values that sustain our nation. My Fellow Americans is divided into six parts: 1933-1945: Roosevelt 1945-1961: T ruman and Eisenhower 1961-1969: Kennedy and Johnson 1969-1981: Nixon, Ford and Carter 1981-1993: Reagan and Bush 1993-2009: Clinton, Bush and Obama. Each part is introduced with a short essay that provides a timeline and context for the events of the period. There is also an introduction to the book that focuses on the president's use of language to inspire listeners. Illustrated with 30 black-and-white historical photographs, My Fellow Americans is a stunning testament to America's recent history. The American Constitution, Article II, Section 3, mandates that the president "shall from time to time give to Congress information on the state of the union." Since George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address in 1790, each president has addressed Congress and the people of the United States every year. Presidents have also given inaugural and farewell addresses as well as many formal and informal speeches. From these speeches there is a vivid and immediate record of the major triumphs and tragedies the nation has faced and clear portraits of the men who have led. Famous speeches in the book include: Roosevelt's first Inaugural Address, 1933: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Eisenhower's Farewell Address, 1961: "We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence. by the military-industrial complex." Kennedy's Inaugural Address, 1961: "Ask not what your country can do for you." Johnson's State of the Union Address, 1967: "We have chosen to fight a limited war in Vietnam in an attempt to prevent a larger war." Reagan's Evil Empire speech, 1983: "[Do not] ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire." George W. Bush's State of the Union Address, 2004: "We are engaged in the defining ideological struggle of the 21st century." Barack Obama's Inaugural Address, 2009: "Begin again the work of remaking America.

Brand: Firefly Books

All the President's Men

In the most devastating political detective story of the century, two Washington Post reporters, whose brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation smashed the Watergate scandal wide open, tell the behind-the-scenes drama the way it really happened. Beginning with the story of a simple burglary at Democratic headquarters and then continuing with headline after headline, Bernstein and Woodward kept the tale of conspiracy and the trail of dirty tricks coming - delivering the stunning revelations and pieces in the Watergate puzzle that brought about Nixon's scandalous downfall. Their explosive reports won a Pulitzer Prize for The Washington Post and toppled the President. This is the book that changed America.

Brand: Simon & Schuster

KING'S AFRICAN RIFLES: A HISTORY

Whatever one may think about the rights and wrongs of colonial rule, it is hard to deny that during the first half of the this century those African countries, which then came under British administration enjoyed a period of stability which most now look back upon with a profound sense of loss. Paradoxical though it may seem, one of the bulwarks of that stability was each country's indigenous army. Trained and officered by the British, these force became a source of both pride and cohesion in their own country, none more so than the King's African Rifles. founded in 1902 and probably the best known of the East African forces. In this, the first complete history of the East African forces, Malcolm Page, who himself served in the Somaliland Scouts for a number of years, has had access to much new material while researching the history of each unit from it's foundation to the time of independence. Historians in several fields will be grateful to him for having put on record this very important period in the annals of both Great Britain and East Africa while the memories of many who served there were still fresh, and they themselves will perhaps be most grateful of all for this lasting tribute to the men they served and who served them, for in that shared sense of duty lay the true spirit of East African Forces.

Brand: Pen & Sword

The Shi'is of Saudi Arabia

Fouad Ibrahim traces the evolution of Shi?ite opposition in Saudi Arabia since the 1979 Shi?ite uprisings, paying particular attention to the reform movement, which has succeeded in bringing issues of political and individual liberty to worldwide attention. Fouad Ibrahim is an editor of Saudi Affairs. He has written extensively about Islam, Shi?ism, and Saudi Arabia.

Brand: Saqi Books

Erie Lackawanna: The Death of an American Railroad, 1938-1992

This 50-year saga of the "Weary Erie" describes in vivid detail the turbulent last decades of a colorful, spunky, and innovative railroad. It also tells us much about what happened to American railroading, during this period: technological change, governmental over-regulation, corporate mergers, union "featherbedding," uneven executive leadership, and changing patterns of travel and business. The book is illustrated with 45 photographs and drawings and 4 maps.

Brand: Stanford University Press

The Making of Bronze Age Eurasia (Cambridge World Archaeology)

This book provides an overview of Bronze Age societies of Western Eurasia through an investigation of the archaeological record. Philip L. Kohl outlines the long-term processes and patterns of interaction that link these groups together in a shared historical trajectory of development. Interactions took the form of the exchange of raw materials and finished goods, the spread and sharing of technologies, and the movements of peoples from one region to another. Kohl reconstructs economic activities from subsistence practices to the production and exchange of metals and other materials. He also examines long-term processes, such as the development of more mobile forms of animal husbandry, which were based on the introduction and large-scale utilization of oxen-drive wheeled wagons and, subsequently, the domestication and riding of horses; the spread of metalworking technologies and exploitation of new centers of metallurgical production; changes in systems of exchange from those dominated by the movement of luxury goods to those in which materials essential for maintaining and securing the reproduction of the societies participating in the exchange network accompanied and/or supplanted the trade in precious materials; and increasing evidence for militarism and political instabilities as reflected in shifts in settlement patterns, including increases in fortified sites, and quantitative and qualitative advances in weaponry. Kohl also argues forcefully that the main task of the archaeologist should be to write culture-history on a spatially and temporally grand scale in an effort to detect large, macrohistorical processes of interaction and shared development.

Brand: Cambridge University Press

Neolithic Farming in Central Europe: An Archaeobotanical Study of Crop Husbandry Practices

Neolithic Farming in Central Europe examines the nature of the earliest crop cultivation, a subject that illuminates the lives of Neolithic farming families and the day-to-day reality of the transition from hunting and gathering to farming. Debate surrounding the nature of crop husbandry in Neolithic central Europe has focussed on the permanence of cultivation, its intensity and its seasonality: variables that carry different implications for Neolithic society. Amy Bogaard reviews the archaeological evidence for four major competing models of Neolithic crop husbandry - shifting cultivation, extensive plough cultivation, floodplain cultivation and intensive garden cultivation - and evaluates charred crop and weed assemblages. Her conclusions identify the most appropriate model of cultivation, and highlight the consequences of these agricultural practices for our understanding of Neolithic societies in central Europe.

Brand: Routledge

Brochs of Scotland (Shire Archaeology)

This book examines some of the most spectacular ancient monuments in Britain - the iron age brochs of north and west Scotland. It sets the building of these unique fortifications into context and examines some of the impressive sites that may still be visited, including the brochs of Mousa and Clickhimin in Shetland and Carolway on Lewis. There is a short section on what brochs are not - including 'Pictish' towers. A select gazetteer of some of the most important brochs is followed by a list of museums in which representative artefacts are preserved. There is a short bibliography.

Brand: Shire

Prehistoric Henges (Shire Archaeology)

Stonehenge is just one of almost a hundred vast circular earthworks built in the British Isles over four thousand years ago. Known as henges, they remain one of the mysteries of prehistoric Britain. Unlike stone circles, which are their counterparts in the west, henges have generally been ignored. With their overgrown banks and weathered ditches they attract few visitors. Yet discoveries have revealed fascinating glimpses of the beliefs of their builders. Excavations have unearthed grim evidence of forgotten rituals: a child's sacrifice at Woodhenge; a human burial at the center of Arbor Low; a woman's skull at the entrance to Gorsey Bigbury; winter moonlight at Stonehenge. Such things hint at the power and importance that these huge enclosures once had. The effort needed to raise these spacious rings of earth or chalk, the careful planning of their entrances, the settings of stone or timber inside them and the avenues leading uphill from nearby rivers all make henges among the most exciting and intriguing of the ancient monuments of the British Isles.

Brand: Shire

The Tripolye Culture giant-settlements in Ukraine: Formation, Development and Decline

The crucial role that the Ukrainian 'branch' of the Tripolye culture played in shaping the historical formation of the Ukraine, and indeed that of Europe, is still not fully understood or appreciated. Although we are mostly aware of its finely-crafted and decorated pottery, along with the highly-discussed house architecture and huge settlements (known as 'giant-settlements'), we often fail to connect the various dots in order to understand the different aspects of its development, from the very first eastward migrations, to the scission into two separate local groups (eastern and western Tripolye culture), the formation of the so-called giant-settlements, and finally to its inexorable decline after more than 2000 years of prosperous existence. This book attempts to bring together in English a variety of research traditions of Eastern and Western Europe, traditionally published in various languages and not readily accessible to all scholars, in the examination of the Ukrainian archaeological record. The volume has been organised so as to give the reader a clear image of the Tripolye culture in the Ukraine, with a special emphasis placed upon the development of the so-called 'giant-settlements'. Chapters discuss the geographical and chronological context, highlighting the different facets of the culture that resulted in the formation of the giant-settlements; relative and absolute chronology of the many sub-groups identified; migration; aspects of material culture (pottery and clay figurines, flint artefacts); architecture (settlement layout, house typology and standardised internal structures); experimental work on the construction and destruction of houses and controversial use of fire; and the ultimate disappearance of this accomplished and very long-lived cultural group.

Brand: Oxbow Books

The Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas (France)

This report presents the new excavations at Combe-Capelle Bas, a Middle Paleolithic site in southern France. The site is situated directly on a source of good quality flint, and recent theories suggest that such a setting may have certain predictable effects on the lithic industries. These effects, and others relating to current models of raw material procurement and use, are discussed. This book will appeal to anyone interested in Paleolithic archaeology, lithic analysis, raw material use, and site formation and taphonomy.

Brand: University Of Pennsylvania Museum Of Archaeology & Anthropology

A Late Iron Age farmstead in the Outer Hebrides: Excavations at Mound 1, Bornais, South Uist (Cardiff Studies in Archaeology)

The settlement at Bornais consists of a complex of mounds which protrude from the relatively flat machair plain in the township of Bornais on the island of South Uist. This sandy plain has proved an attractive settlement from the Beaker period onwards; it appears to have been intensively occupied from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the Norse period. Mound 1 was the original location for settlement in this part of the machair plain; pre-Viking activity of some complexity is present and it is likely that the settlement activity started in the Middle Iron Age, if not earlier. The examination of the mound 1 deposits provides an important contribution to our understanding of the Iron Age sequence in the Atlantic province. The principal contribution comprises the large quantities of mammal, fish and bird bones, carbonised plant remains and pottery, which can be accurately dated to a fairly precise and narrow period in the 1st millennium AD. These are augmented by a substantial collection of small finds which included distinctive bone artefacts. The contextual significance of the site is based on the survival of floor deposits and a burnt-down roof; the floor deposits can be compared with abandonment and adjacent midden deposits providing contrasting contextual environments that help to clarify depositional processes. The burning down of the house and the excellent preservation of the deposits within it provide an unparalleled opportunity to examine the timber superstructure of the building and the layout of the material used by the inhabitants.

Brand: Oxbow Books

Megalithic Remains in Britain and Brittany

Pages: 204, Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, OUP Oxford

Brand: Oup Oxford

Fingerprints Of The Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization

The author of the best-selling The Sign and the Seal takes readers along on a quest for proof of the existence of an ancient advanced civilization-not Atlantis-that predates Egyptian, Hittite, and Chinese cultures. An irresistible mixture of historical detective work, hard science, and recent discoveries in ancient places. Black-and-white photographs.

Brand: Crown

History of Humanity Set: History of Humanity: Volume I: Prehistory and the Beginnings of Civilization

Comprising articles written by over forty leading experts from around the world, the first volume covers the period from the origins of humanity to the inventions of writing and the beginnings of food production. Comprehensively examining the emergence of civilization, this is a self-contained reference and crucial part of the 7 volume set.

Brand: Routledge

People of the Earth: An Introduction to World Pre-History (13th Edition)

This internationally renowned text provides the only truly global account of human prehistory from the earliest times through the earliest civilizations. Written in an accessible way, People of the Earth shows how today's diverse humanity developed biologically and culturally over millions of years against a background of constant climatic change.

Brand: Pearson

The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age (Oxford Handbooks)

The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age is a wide-ranging survey of a crucial period in prehistory during which many social, economic, and technological changes took place. Written by expert specialists in the field, the book provides coverage both of the themes that characterize the period, and of the specific developments that took place in the various countries of Europe. After an introduction and a discussion of chronology, successive chapters deal with settlement studies, burial analysis, hoards and hoarding, monumentality, rock art, cosmology, gender, and trade, as well as a series of articles on specific technologies and crafts (such as transport, metals, glass, salt, textiles, and weighing). The second half of the book covers each country in turn. From Ireland to Russia, Scandinavia to Sicily, every area is considered, and up to date information on important recent finds is discussed in detail. The book is the first to consider the whole of the European Bronze Age in both geographical and thematic terms, and will be the standard book on the subject for the foreseeable future.

Brand: Oxford University Press, USA

Handbook of Paleolithic Typology: Lower and Middle Paleolithic of Europe

This book presents the major tool types of European Lower and Middle Paleolithic. Building on the typelist of the late Francois Bordes, with many forms that have been recognized since, it presents working definitions of the types with illustrations and discussions of the variability inherent to lithic typologies. The authors combine classic typological views with current notions of lithic typological variation. This handbook represents not only an important reference source for gaining a practical understanding of how Lower and Middle Paleolithic typology is applied but of the nature of lithic variability in other kinds of assemblages as well.

Brand: University Of Pennsylvania Museum Of Archaeology & Anthropology

Prehistoric Stone Circles (Shire Archaeology)

This little book has become a classic. Re-issued yet again with revisions and colour pictures, it provides an excellent introduction to stone circles, including Stonehenge, and shows how we are gradually coming to an understanding of their significance.

Brand: Shire

The Geography of Neandertals and Modern Humans in Europe and the Greater Mediterranean (Peabody Museum Bulletin 8)

During the Middle Paleolithic, various populations ancestral to modern Hone sapiens inhabited Africa, while Europe was homeland to the Neandertals. Recent archaeological investigations have provided data showing that the abrupt transition from the Middle to the Upper Neolithic, during which these populations met and interacted, was a fast-moving period of change for both groups. In this volume, the expansion of modern humans and their impact on the populations of Neandertals in Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa is discussed in depth, with particular focus on the lithic industries of the late Middle and early Upper Paleolithic.

Brand: Peabody Museum Press

Exchange Networks and Local Transformations

Throughout the local Bronze and Iron Age, European and Mediterranean societies appear to have been involved in complex systems of exchange networks which invariably affected local customs and historical developments. Archaeological evidence suggests social and economic phenomena, cultural expressions and technological skills stemmed from multifaceted encounters between local traditions and external influences. Examples of cultural openness and transcultural hybridisation seem to be more of a norm than an exception. The articles in the volume explore the dynamic relationship between regionally contextualised transformations and inter-regional exchange networks. Particular effort has been put in approaching the issue in a multi-disciplinary perspective. Continental Europe and the Mediterranean may be characterised by specific development and patterns of relations, but the authors draw attention to how those worlds were not alien to each other and illustrate how common interpretative tools can be successfully applied and a comprehensive approach including both zones adopted.

Brand: Oxbow Books

Neolithic Houses in Northwest Europe and Beyond (Oxbow Monographs)

The first publication of the Neolithic Studies Group, looking at the structure and social meaning of Neolithic houses, is available again as a digital reprint. The majority of these papers were presented in 1992 at a special seminar entitled "Neolithic Houses: Fact or Fiction?" The contributions include regional reviews of the archaeological evidence for Neolithic houses in different parts of north-west Europe, discussions of a selection of specific houses in various parts of Europe, general interpretive reviews, and two papers which present comparative anthropological data on the use of houses in farming communities in Bali and the Amazon.

Brand: Oxbow Books

Neolithic

This excellent introductory textbook describes and explains the origins of modern culture? the dawn of agriculture in the Neolithic area. Written in an easy-to-read style, this lively and engaging book familiarises the reader with essential archaeological and genetic terms and concepts, explores the latest evidence from scientific analyses as varied as deep sea coring, pollen identification, radiometric dating and DNA research, condensing them into an up-to-date academic account, specifically written to be clear even the novice reader. Focusing primarily on sites in southwest Asia, Neolithic addresses questions such as: Which plants and animals were the first to be domesticated, and how? How did life change when people began farming? What were the first villages like? What do we know about the social, political and religious life of these newly founded societies? What happened to human health as a result of the Neolithic Revolution? Lavishly illustrated with almost a hundred images, this enjoyable book is an ideal introduction both for students of archaeology and for general readers interested in our past.

Brand: Routledge

A Prehistory of Ordinary People

For the past million years, individuals have engaged in multitasking as they interact with the surrounding environment and with each other for the acquisition of daily necessities such as food and goods. Although culture is often perceived as a collective process, it is individual people who use language, experience illness, expend energy, perceive landscapes, and create memories. These processes were sustained at the individual and household level from the time of the earliest social groups to the beginnings of settled agricultural communities and the eventual development of complex societies in the form of chiefdoms, states, and empires. Even after the advent of? civilization? about 6,000 years ago, human culture has for the most part been created and maintained not by the actions of elites?as is commonly proclaimed by many archaeological theorists?but by the many thousands of daily actions carried out by average citizens. With this book, Monica L. Smith examines how the archaeological record of ordinary objects?used by ordinary people?constitutes a manifestation of humankind?s cognitive and social development. A Prehistory of Ordinary People offers an impressive synthesis and accessible style that will appeal to archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, and others interested in the long history of human decision-making.

Brand: University of Arizona Press

Ancient Ireland: An Explorer's Guide (Travel)

A splendid guidebook to Ireland's spectacular antiquities-its passage tombs, ring forts, castles, Neolithic settlements, and monastic sites. With its witty and erudite explorations of Irish mythology, history, literature, archaeology, and architecture, this travel book makes for an excellent companion on a journey to Ireland that is also a journey back in time. Along with fascinating overviews of prehistoric, Celtic, early Christian, and early medieval times, Meagher gives the traveler concrete help in finding the most stunning sites that preserve and breathe that history today (some are surprisingly unknown). After the day's exploring is done, readers can consult the same volume to find where to stay and eat. or entertaining bed-time reading in Meagher's lore about these ancient sites. In Ancient Ireland, Meagher brings both his passionate scholarship and knowledge of the country and its history to a guide that is at once personal, humorous, engaging, scholarly, and still minutely practical.

Brand: Interlink Publishing Group

The Agricultural Revolution in Prehistory: Why did Foragers become Farmers?

The Agricultural Revolution in Prehistory addresses one of the most debated and least understood revolutions in the history of our species, the change from hunting and gathering to farming. Graeme Barker takes a global view, and integrates a massive array of information from archaeology and many other disciplines, including anthropology, botany, climatology, genetics, linguistics, and zoology. Against current orthodoxy, Barker develops a strong case for the development of agricultural systems in many areas as transformations in the life-ways of the indigenous forager societies, and argues that these were as much changes in social norms and ideologies as in ways of obtaining food. With a large number of helpful line drawings and photographs as well as a comprehensive bibliography, this authoritative study will appeal to a wide general readership as well as to specialists in a variety of fields.

Brand: Oxford University Press, USA

Celtic from the West 2: Rethinking the Bronze Age and the Arrival of Indo-European in Atlantic Europe (Celtic Studies Publications)

Pages: 237, Hardcover, Oxbow Books Ltd

Brand: Oxbow Books Ltd

Prehistoric Britain (Wiley-Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology)

Informed by the latest research and in-depth analysis, Prehistoric Britain provides students and scholars alike with a fascinating overview of the development of human societies in Britain from the Upper Paleolithic to the end of the Iron Age. Offers readers an incisive synthesis and much-needed overview of current research themes Includes essays from leading scholars and professionals who address the very latest trends in current research Explores the interpretive debates surrounding major transitions in British prehistory

Brand: Wiley-Blackwell

Sticks, Stones, and Broken Bones: Neolithic Violence in a European Perspective

Sticks, Stones, and Broken Bones: Neolithic Violence in a European Perspective presents an up-to-date overview of the evidence for violent injuries on human skeletons of the Neolithic period in Europe, ranging from 6700 to 2000 BC. Unlike other lines of evidence - weapons, fortifications, and imagery - the human skeleton preserves the actual marks of past violent encounters. The papers in this volume are written by the experts undertaking the archaeological analysis, and present evidence from eleven European countries which provide, for the first time, the basis for a comparative approach between different regions and periods. Difficulties and ambiguities in interpreting the evidence are also discussed, although many of the cases are clearly the outcome of conflict. Injuries often show healing, but others can be seen as the cause of death. In many parts of Europe, women and children appear to have been the victims of violence as often as adult men. The volume not only presents an excellent starting point for a new consideration of the prevalence and significance of violence in Neolithic Europe, but provides an invaluable baseline for comparisons with both earlier and later periods.

Brand: Oxford University Press, USA

Land, Power and Prestige: Bronze Age Field Systems in Southern England

A major phase of economic expansion occurred in southern England during the second and early first millennium BC, accompanied by a fundamental shift in regional power and wealth towards the eastern lowlands. This book offers a synthesis of available data on Bronze Age lowland field systems in England, including a gazetteer of sites. The research demonstrates the importance of large-scale animal husbandry in the mixed farming regimes as evidenced in the design of the field systems which incorporate droveways, stock proof fencing, watering holes, cow pens, sheep races and gateways for stockhandling. It is argued that the field systems represented a form of conspicuous production, an "intensification" of agrarian endeavour or a statement of intent, to be understood in relation to the maintenance, display and promotion of hierarchical social systems involved in exchange with their counterparts across the English Channel.

Brand: Oxbow Books

Hidden Stonehenge: Ancient Temple in North America Reveals the Key to Ancient Wonders

Hidden Stonehenge is a remarkable chronicle of one man's drive and determination to uncover the mystery of Canada's Stonehenge in the remote plains of southern Alberta, abandoned centuries ago and largely forgotten ever since. Astonishingly, it not only predates England's Stonehenge by about 800 years but also predates Egypt's pyramids. It has been proven that the calendar its design encapsulates is slightly more accurate than the Gregorian calendar currently used internationally. The author, Gordon Freeman, discovered the extensive Sun Temple more than twenty years ago, and he has dedicated almost the same number of years to unravelling its meaning. At the heart of his book is a detailed comparison betweent the Sun Temple and Stonehenge. He reveals that 5,000 years ago Britons and Plains Indians made precise astronomical observations at these two sites halfway around the world from each another at nearly the same latitude. These similarities make us think again about the supposedly 'primitive' nature of prehistoric peoples' understanding of the cosmos.

Brand: Watkins

Ancient Ireland: Life before the Celts

When the Celts first arrived in Ireland around 250BC, the island had already been inhabited for over 7,000 years. These pre-Celtic peoples have left no written records, but they have left extensive archaeological evidence, of which Newgrange is the most celebrated example. Who were these peoples and how did they live? Using archaeological evidence, Laurence Flanagan pieces together the sort of houses they built, the way they cultivated the land, their social and economic systems, and many other aspects of daily life in pre-Celtic Ireland. Combining scholarship with an accessible style, the book provides a unique and fascinating insight into a lost, fabled world.

Brand: Palgrave Macmillan

Centre and Periphery in the Ancient World (New Directions in Archaeology)

This collaborative volume is concerned with long-term social change. Envisaging individual societies as interlinked and interdependent parts of a global social system, the aim of the contributors is to determine the extent to which ancient societies were shaped over time by their incorporation in - or resistance to - the larger system. Their particular concern is the dependent relationship between technically and socially more developed societies with a strong state ideology at the centre and the simpler societies that functioned principally as sources of raw materials and manpower on the periphery of the system. The papers in the first part of the book are all concerned with political developments in the Ancient Near East and the notion of a regional system as a framework for analysis. Part 2 examines the problems of conceptualising local societies as discrete centres of development in the context of both the Near East and prehistoric Europe during the second millennium BC. Part 3 then presents a comprehensive analytical study of the Roman Empire as a single system showing how its component parts often relate to each other in uneven, even contradictory, ways.

Brand: Cambridge University Press