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Jones offers a lucid and thorough analysis of the economic, social, military, and environmental problems that contributed to the failure of the Romans, drawing on literary sources and on recent archaeological evidence.
Maritime archaeology deals with shipwrecks and is carried out by divers rather than diggers. It embraces maritime history and analyses changes in shipbuilding, navigation and seamanship and offers fresh perspectives on the cultures and societies that produced the ships and sailors. Drawing on detailed past and recent case studies, Richard A. Gould provides an up-to-date review of the field that includes dramatic new findings arising from improved undersea technologies. This second edition of Archaeology and the Social History of Ships has been updated throughout to reflect new findings and new interpretations of old sites. The new edition explores advances in undersea technology in archaeology, especially remotely operated vehicles. The book reviews many of the major recent shipwreck findings, including the Vasa in Stockholm, the Viking wrecks at Roskilde Fjord and the Titanic.
This interdisciplinary volume deals with new methodological approaches to studying early medieval mobility. The chapters address innovative methods from the fields of history, archaeology, and the natural sciences, discussing the potential and limits of each methodological approach and shining the spotlight on historical and archaeological as well as scientific methods.
A detailed account of man's use of inland and ocean-going craft from the earliest times until the dawn of history, using new archaeological research. All forms of evidence are assessed, from the vessels of ancient Egypt to the Chinese junk.The nautical dimension of prehistory has not so far received the attention it deserves. It is also too often assumed that early man was land bound, yet this is demonstrably not the case. Recent research has shown that man travelled and tracked over greater distances and at a much earlier date than has previously been thought possible. Some of these facts can be explained only by man's mastery of water transport from earliest times. This book, by an acknowl...
The Companion to the Hanseatic League discusses the importance of the Hanseatic League for the social and economic history of pre-modern northern Europe. Established already as early as the twelfth century, the towns that formed the Hanseatic League created an important network of commerce throughout the Baltic and North Sea area. From Russia in the east, to England and France in the west, the cities of the Hanseatic League created a vast northern maritime trade network. The aim of this volume is to present a “state” of the field English-language volume by some of the most respected Hanse scholars. Contributors are Mike Burkhardt, Ulf Christian Ewert, Rolf Hammel-Kiesow, Donald J. Harreld, Carsten Jahnke, Michael North, Jürgen Sarnowsky and Stephan Selzer.
A comprehensive guide to the history and religious significance of amulets, stones, runes and herbs found throughout Germanic and Teutonic cultures. Amulets is Gundarsson’s finest work on the subject, providing an immense depth of knowledge on each and every amulet uncovered, giving you all the historical information needed to create your very own piece of history.
Maritime Economics The Blackwell Companion to Maritime Economics presents a comprehensive and in-depth coverage of shipping and port economics. Featuring contributions from the most respected international specialists in the field, this reference offers up-to-date insights into maritime carriers and their markets (e.g., freight, intermodal and passenger), shipping economics (e.g., dry bulk, liquid bulk, container, regulation, taxation, seafaring, safety and piracy), ship economics (e.g., equity, bond and hedging ship finance) and port economics (e.g., governance, labor, competition, efficiency, choice, investment, clusters, inspection and security). In addition to providing a comprehensive s...
Water is a global resource for modern societies - and water was a global resource for pre-modern societies. The many different water systems serving processes of urbanisation and urban life in ancient times and the Middle Ages have hardly been researched until now. The numerous contributions to this volume pose questions such as what the basic cultural significance of water was, the power of water, in the town and for the town, from different points of view. Symbolic, aesthetic, and cult aspects are taken up, as is the role of water in politics, society, and economy, in daily life, but also in processes of urban planning or in urban neighbourhoods. Not least, the dangers of polluted water or of flooding presented a challenge to urban society. The contributions in this volume draw attention to the complex, manifold relations between water and human beings. This collection presents the results of an international conference in Kiel in 2018. It is directed towards both scholars in ancient and mediaeval studies and all those interested in the diversity of water systems in urban space in ancient and mediaeval times.
Studies of warfare, armies, logistics and weapons throughout the Norman realms. The studies in this book examine and illuminate the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman military institutions that supported and shaped the conduct of war in northwestern Europe in the central middle ages. Taken together they challenge received opinion on a number of issues and force a profound reconsideration of the manner in which the Normans and their adversaries, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Angevins and the Welsh, prepared for and waged war. Contributors: RICHARD ABELS, BERNARD BACHRACH, KELLY DEVRIES, JOHN FRANCE, C.M. GILLMOR, ROBERT HELMERICHS, NIELS LUND, STEPHEN MORILLO, MICHAEL PRESTWICH, FREDERICK SUPPE.
This book is about the Old Norse god Odin. It includes references to all occurrences of Odin in the Old Norse/Icelandic texts, including Saxo’s Gesta Danorum, the eddic poems, Snorri’s Edda, and Ynglinga saga and analyses the high medieval reception and literary representations of Odin rather than the religious character of the god. This is the only existing study of Odin in all the Old Norse/Icelandic texts and applies a contextual method: the different guises of Odin are studied on the basis of the various textual contexts and on their background in the literary and Christian intellectual milieu of the time. Contrary to existing studies, this method is non-reductive in that it does not aim at providing a synthesis about Odin’s original nature on the basis of the differing textual uses of Odin in the Middle Ages. The book argues that the perceived complexity of Odin, often highlighted in research, is first and foremost a function of the complex textual material spanning a wide variety of genres each with its particular literary conventions and of the reception of Odin in early modern and modern mythological studies.