With such a great selection of titles in our sale, it can be tricky to choose. To help you out, we’ve chosen some of our favourites to share with you. To find out more about each book, or to purchase online, just click on the cover image.
Ritual in Early Bronze Age Grave Goods: An examination of ritual and dress equipment from Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age graves in England
By Ann Woodward and John Hunter
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.
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.
“If this is a retirement swan song (duet, rather), what a hymn sheet, what tunes! We will be humming them for decades.” ~Rob Ixer, Current Archaeology
“Surely the main lasting results are the very substantial stores of data on sourcing, manufacture, typology, function and usewear which will serve as an invaluable resource for all scholars of the periods now and in years to come.” ~Henrietta Quinnell, Prehistoric Society
Ritual in Early Bronze Age Grave Goods has been nominated for the 2017 Current Archaeology ‘Book of the Year’ award. You can vote for it here.
Settlement in the Irish Neolithic: New discoveries at the edge of Europe
By Jessica Smyth
The Irish Neolithic has been dominated by the study of megalithic tombs, but the defining element of Irish settlement evidence is the rectangular timber Early Neolithic house, the numbers of which have more than quadrupled in the last ten years. This book explores the wealth of evidence for settlement and houses throughout the Irish Neolithic, in relation to Britain and continental Europe. More importantly it incorporates the wealth of new, and often unpublished, evidence from developer-led archaeological excavations and large grey-literature resources.
It provides the first comprehensive review of the Neolithic settlement of Ireland, which enables a more holistic and meaningful understanding of the Irish Neolithic.
“… this is an extraordinarily important resource… It will be essential reading for anyone interested in the European Neolithic and a landmark volume in the study of Irish prehistory.” ~Ian Armit, European Journal of Archaeology
“While this is essentially a scholarly volume it is still accessible to students and engaged general readers… [it] provides a welcome window on the greatly expanded Irish Neolithic dataset.” ~Eoin Grogan, Landscape History
Trees in Towns and Cities: A history of British urban arboriculture
By Mark Johnston
This is the first book on the history of trees in Britain’s towns and cities, and the people who have planted and cared for them. It is a highly readable and authoritative account of the trees in our urban landscapes from the Romans to the present day, including public parks, private gardens, streets, cemeteries and many other open spaces.
Studies in garden and landscape history have often been preoccupied with those belonging to the rich and powerful. This book focuses particularly on working people and the extent to which they have been able to enjoy urban trees and greenspace.
“This book puts trees into a cultural context, making it a fascinating and indispensable read for urban dwellers, arborists, gardeners and tree-huggers alike.” ~The Garden, Royal Horticultural Society
“This is a fascinating book and certainly not just for ‘tree’ people. I myself started reading it with some trepidation… was it going to be stiff and dull? No, not at all! I was very pleasantly surprised and delighted within just a few pages… This is a concise, yet comprehensive, and very well-researched work and about so much more than just trees. I learnt a lot.” ~Peter Thurman, The Horticulturalist
All these books can be purchased online at www.oxbowbooks.com, or by calling our customer services team on +44 (0) 1226 734350.
Sale prices will be valid for a limited time (until 31st December) and while stocks last.
