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When Roman troops threatened to seize the wealth of the Iceni people, their queen, Boudica, retaliated by inciting a major uprising, allying her tribe with the neighbouring Trinovantes. The ensuing clash is one of the most important - and dramatic - events in the history of Britain, standing testament to what can happen when an insensitive colonial power meets determined resistance from a subjugated people head-on. In this fascinating account of a legendary figure, Miranda Aldhouse-Green raises questions about female power, colonial oppression, and whether Boudica would be seen today as a freedom fighter, terrorist or martyr.
The Celtic World is a detailed and comprehensive study of the Celts from the first evidence of them in the archaeological and historical record to the early post-Roman period. The strength of this volume lies in its breadth - it looks at archaeology, language, literature, towns, warfare, rural life, art, religion and myth, trade and industry, political organisations, society and technology. The Celtic World draws together material from all over pagan Celtic Europe and includes contributions from British, European and American scholars. Much of the material is new research which is previously unpublished. The book addresses some important issues - Who were the ancient Celts? Can we speak of them as the first Europeans? In what form does the Celtic identity exist today and how does this relate to the ancient Celts? For anyone interested in the Celts, and for students and academics alike, The Celtic World will be a valuable resource and a fascinating read.
Relevance of the religious beliefs and practices of past European societies can enhance understanding of our own. The popular notion of Druids is unpacked and debunked using archaeological evidence. New research findings are shared with readers in accessible and engaging ways, enhanced by copious illustrations that weave into the text. The book is thoroughly readable and tells stories of the past in a deeply compelling manner.
A compelling new account of religion in Roman Britain, weaving together the latest archaeological research and a new analysis of ancient literature to illuminate parallels between past and present Two thousand years ago, the Romans sought to absorb into their empire what they regarded as a remote, almost mythical island on the very edge of the known world—Britain. The expeditions of Julius Caesar and the Claudian invasion of 43 CE, up to the traditional end of Roman Britain in the fifth century CE, brought fundamental and lasting changes to the island. Not least among these was a pantheon of new classical deities and religious systems, along with a clutch of exotic eastern cults, including...
Explains "the nature of sacrifice in antiquity" and "different aspects of the subject: the notion of flesh for the gods; rites of fire and blood; the significance of defleshing heads and of skulls; suffocation ... ; the selection of victims and the evidence for the sacrifice of children." Author "puts forward some reasons for ritual murder and shows how" certain practices "illustrate the importance of place in the sacrificial rite" and "highlights the essential role of the priesthood in sacrificial murder."--Jacket.
The grisly story of the bog bodies, updated via details of archaeological discovery and crime-scene techniques Some 2,000 years ago, certain unfortunate individuals were violently killed and buried not in graves but in bogs. What was a tragedy for the victims has proved an archaeologist’s dream, for the peculiar and acidic properties of the bog have preserved the bodies so that their skin, hair, soft tissue, and internal organs—even their brains—survive. Most of these ancient swamp victims have been discovered in regions with large areas of raised bog: Ireland, northwest England, Denmark, the Netherlands, and northern Germany. They were almost certainly murder victims and, as such, the...
Celtic Wales' is about the beginnings of Wales and how the period from the Iron Age to medieval times helped shape and define the modern nation of Wales. Early Wales has a spectacular archaeological, literary and mythical heritage. This book uses archaeology and early historical documents to discuss all aspects of early Welsh society, from war to farming and from drinking habits to Druids.
This is a fascinating book about the Celts and their religion, which covers all aspects of the gods, ritual customers, cult-objects and sacred places of the ancient Celtic peoples. The first chapter introduces the Celts and the evidence they have left behind, and places them in their geographical and chronological context. The following chapters cover the various cults of the sun and the sky, the mother-godesses and fertility, war, death and the underworld, water gods and healers, animals and animism, and symbolism and imagery. This is a rewarding overview of the evidence for Celtic religions, beliefs and practices which uses modern scholarship to bring an obscure, but captivating part of European history to life. It covers 500 BC to AD 400, and embraces the whole of the Celtic world from Ireland to Australia.
Using archaeology and social anthropology, and more than 100 original line drawings and photographs, An Archaeology of Images takes a fresh look at how ancient images of both people and animals were used in the Iron Age and Roman societies of Europe, 600 BC to AD 400 and investigates the various meanings with which images may have been imbued. The book challenges the usual interpretation of statues, reliefs and figurines as passive things to be looked at or worshipped, and reveals them instead as active artefacts designed to be used, handled and broken. It is made clear that the placing of images in temples or graves may not have been the only episode in their biographies, and a single image...
This text offers a wide-ranging review of the significance of the female in Celtic myth and religion. Celtic goddesses presided over nature, animals, healing and fertility. Terrifying battle goddesses were invoked in times of war and a Mother Goddess was supplicated for the fertility of animals and crops. Goddesses were often linked with animals - birds, dogs, bears, pigs and snakes all had their divine protectresses.