Studies Into the Balts' Sacred Places

Studies Into the Balts' Sacred Places
Author: Vykintas Vaitkevičius
Publisher: British Archaeological Reports Oxford Limited
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN:

Up to now, the ancient Balts' sacred places have typically been described according to the few known written sources, referencing mostly the same few examples of investigated monuments. A non-systematic approach is the main problem that has prevented us from using this valuable base of sources for the investigation of the Balts' religion and mythology. The aim of this work is therefore to examine various scientific information, to classify the Balts' sacred places in Lithuania according to type, to point out the main types and groups of sacred places, and moreover, to analyse their religious and historic contexts. The Balts' sacred places are examined systemically: typologically, according to complex archaeological, historic, ethnologic, linguistic, folkloristic scientific methods and the cartographic analysis of monuments. The results of these examinations are then compared to other data about the Balts and their neighbours the Slavs, Germans and Finno-Ugrians.

The Archaeology of the Prussian Crusade

The Archaeology of the Prussian Crusade
Author: Aleksander Pluskowski
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 452
Release: 2013-05-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1136162801

The Archaeology of the Prussian Crusade explores the archaeology and material culture of the crusade against the Prussian tribes in the 13th century, and the subsequent society created by the Teutonic Order which lasted into the 16th century. It provides the first synthesis of the material culture of a unique crusading society created in the south-eastern Baltic region over the course of the 13th century. It encompasses the full range of archaeological data, from standing buildings through to artefacts and ecofacts, integrated with written and artistic sources. The work is sub-divided into broadly chronological themes, beginning with a historical outline, exploring the settlements, castles, towns and landscapes of the Teutonic Order’s theocratic state and concluding with the role of the reconstructed and ruined monuments of medieval Prussia in the modern world in the context of modern Polish culture. This is the first work on the archaeology of medieval Prussia in any language, and is intended as a comprehensive introduction to a period and area of growing interest. This book represents an important contribution to promoting International awareness of the cultural heritage of the Baltic region, which has been rapidly increasing over the last few decades.

Archaeology of Spiritualities

Archaeology of Spiritualities
Author: Kathryn Rountree
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2012-05-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1461433541

Archaeology of Spiritualties provides a fresh exploration of the interface between archaeology and religion/spirituality. Archaeological approaches to the study of religion have typically and often unconsciously, drawn on western paradigms, especially Judaeo-Christian (mono) theistic frameworks and academic rationalisations. Archaeologists have rarely reflected on how these approaches have framed and constrained their choices of methodologies, research questions, hypotheses, definitions, interpretations and analyses and have neglected an important dimension of religion: the human experience of the numinous - the power, presence or experience of the supernatural. Within the religions of many of the world’s peoples, sacred experiences – particularly in relation to sacred landscapes and beings connected with those landscapes – are often given greater emphasis, while doctrine and beliefs are relatively less important. Archaeology of Spiritualities asks how such experiences might be discerned in the archaeological record; how do we recognize and investigate ‘other’ forms of religious or spiritual experience in the remains of the past?. The volume opens up a space to explore critically and reflexively the encounter between archaeology and diverse cultural expressions of spirituality. It showcases experiential and experimental methodologies in this area of the discipline, an unconventional approach within the archaeology of religion. Thus Archaeology of Spiritualities offers a unique, timely and innovative contribution, one that is also challenging and stimulating. It is a great resource to archaeologists, historians, religious scholars and others interested in cultural and religious heritage.

Current Research in Egyptology 2017

Current Research in Egyptology 2017
Author: Ilaria Incordino
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2018-06-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1784919063

Presents selected papers from the 18th Current Research in Egyptology meeting, held in Naples, 2017. Subjects discussed included Graeco-Roman and Byzantine Egypt, Nubian Studies, Language/Texts, Art/Architecture, Religion/Cult, Field Projects, Museums/Archives, Material Culture, Mummies/Coffins, Society, Technologies, Environment.

Sacred Waters

Sacred Waters
Author: Celeste Ray
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 492
Release: 2020-02-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 100002508X

Describing sacred waters and their associated traditions in over thirty countries and across multiple time periods, this book identifies patterns in panhuman hydrolatry. Supplying life’s most basic daily need, freshwater sources were likely the earliest sacred sites, and the first protected and contested resource. Guarded by taboos, rites and supermundane forces, freshwater sources have also been considered thresholds to otherworlds. Often associated also with venerated stones, trees and healing flora, sacred water sources are sites of biocultural diversity. Addressing themes that will shape future water research, this volume examines cultural perceptions of water’s sacrality that can be employed to foster resilient human–environmental relationships in the growing water crises of the twenty-first century. The work combines perspectives from anthropology, archaeology, classics, folklore, geography, geology, history, literature and religious studies.

Exploring Outremer Volume II

Exploring Outremer Volume II
Author: Rabei G. Khamisy
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2023-05-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000869202

This collection is published in the Crusades Subsidia series in honour of Professor Adrian J. Boas, an archaeologist, historian and scholar who has contributed widely and significantly to the study and teaching of the Middle Ages. Professor Boas’ research encompasses the archaeology of the Latin East, military orders with particular emphasis on the Teutonic Order, material culture, architecture and medieval art, historiography, and not least, the Crusades and the Latin East. Exploring Outremer Volume II is a collection of 15 original essays by the leading scholars in the field on the history and archaeology of the Latin East. It covers aspects dealing with the history, archaeology, architecture and function of several castles and fortifications in the Latin Kingdom, and presents new studies on the material, including pottery, numismatics and many other finds. In addition, it includes a chapter dealing with landscape archaeology. This book will appeal to researchers and students alike interested in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Duchies of Edessa and Antioch, as well as the Crusades and Crusading Orders.

Loci Sacri

Loci Sacri
Author: Thomas Coomans
Publisher: Leuven University Press
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2012
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9058678423

Sacred places are not static entities but reveal a historical dynamic. This volume explores both the cultural developments that have shaped them and their varied multidimensional levels of significance.

The Archaeology of Medieval Europe 1

The Archaeology of Medieval Europe 1
Author: James Graham-Campbell
Publisher: Aarhus Universitetsforlag
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2007-12-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 8771244271

The two volumes of The Archaeology of Medieval Europe will together comprise the first complete account of medieval archaeology across Europe. Archaeologists from academic institutions in fifteen countries are collaborating to produce these two books of sixteen thematic chapters each. In addition, every chapter will feature a number of 'box-texts', by specialist contributors, highlighting sites or themes of particular importance. The books will be comprehensively illustrated throughout, in both colour and b/w, including line drawings and specially commissioned maps. This ground-breaking set, which is divided chronologically into two (Vol. 1 extending from the Eighth to Twelfth Centuries AD, and Vol. 2 from the Twelfth to Sixteenth Centuries - to appear 2008), will enable readers to track the development of different cultures, and of regional characteristics, throughout the full extent of medieval Catholic Europe. In addition to revealing shared contexts and technological developments, the complete work will also provide the opportunity for demonstrating the differences that were inevitably present across the Continent - from Iceland to Italy, and from Portugal to Finland - and to study why such differences existed.

The Crusader World

The Crusader World
Author: Adrian Boas
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 748
Release: 2015-10-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317408322

The Crusader World is a multidisciplinary survey of the current state of research in the field of crusader studies, an area of study which has become increasingly popular in recent years. In this volume Adrian Boas draws together an impressive range of academics, including work from renowned scholars as well as a number of though-provoking pieces from emerging researchers, in order to provide broad coverage of the major aspects of the period. This authoritative work will play an important role in the future direction of crusading studies. This volume enriches present knowledge of the crusades, addressing such wide-ranging subjects as: intelligence and espionage, gender issues, religious celebrations in crusader Jerusalem, political struggles in crusader Antioch, the archaeological study of battle sites and fortifications, diseases suffered by the crusaders, crusading in northern Europe and Spain and the impact of Crusader art. The relationship between Crusaders and Muslims, two distinct and in many way opposing cultures, is also examined in depth, including a discussion of how the Franks perceived their enemies. Arranged into eight thematic sections, The Crusader World considers many central issues as well as a large number of less familiar topics of the crusades, crusader society, history and culture. With over 100 photographs, line drawings and maps, this impressive collection of essays is a key resource for students and scholars alike.