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Title Ritual in Early Bronze Age grave goods : an examination of ritual and dress equipment from Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age graves in England / Ann Woodward and John Hunter ; with David Bukach, Stuart Needham and Alison Sheridan ; and with contributions by Peter Bray [and twelve others].
Author Woodward, Ann, author.
Publisher Oxford : Oxbow Books, 2015.

Status Loan Type Location Shelf-mark
 In Library  Standard  Library Level 8 Annexe  Archaeology qD400 WOO  
 In Library  Standard  Library Level 8 Annexe  Archaeology qD400 WOO  
More Details
Description xiii, 578 pages : illustrations (chiefly colour), maps (colour), plans ; 31 cm. + 1 CD-ROM (4 3/4 in.)
ISBN 9781782976943 hardback
1782976949 hardback
Note Accompanied by CD-ROM containing appendices.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages [561]-569) and index.
Contents Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Methodology -- Chapter 3. Items of equipment I: daggers, pommels and belt fittings -- Chapter 4. Items of equipment II: stone, bone, copper alloy and miscellaneous objects -- Chapter 5. Items of personal adornment I: jet and jet-like materials, amber, bone and copper alloy -- Chapter 6. Items of personal adornment II: gold and the regalia from bush barrow -- Chapter 7. Necklaces I: disc beads and spacer plate necklaces -- Chapter 8. Necklaces II: Simple and composite necklaces -- Chapter 9. Chronology -- Chapter 10. Object life stories -- Chapter 11. Object function -- Chapter 12. Regional variation -- Chapter 13. Conclusions.
Summary "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. Many items of adornment can be shown to have formed elements of elaborate costumes, probably worn by individuals, both male and female, who held important ritual roles within society. Furthermore, the analysis has shown that various categories of object long interpreted as mundane types of tool were in fact items of bodily adornment or implements used in ritual contexts, or in the special embellishment of the human body. Although never intended to form a complete catalogue of all the relevant artefacts from England the volume provides an extensive, and intensively illustrated, overview of a large proportion of the grave goods from English burial sites." -- Provided by publisher.
System Details System requirements: PC windows 98 or later; MAC OS 95 or later; Adobe Acrobat 5 or later.
Library Class Archaeology D400
Subject Bronze age -- England.
Grave goods -- England -- History -- To 1500.
Ritual -- England -- History -- To 1500.
Other Author Hunter, John, 1949- author.
Bukach, David, 1971- author.
Needham, Stuart, author.
Sheridan, Alison, author.
Bray, Peter (Archaeologist), author.

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