Europe is dotted with tens of thousands of prehistoric barrows. In spite of their ubiquity, little is known on the role they had in pre- and protohistoric landscapes. In 2010, an international group of archaeologists came together at the conference of the European Association of Archaeologists in The Hague to discuss and review current research on this topic. This book presents the proceedings of that session. The focus is on the prehistory of Scandinavia and the Low Countries, but also includes an excursion to huge prehistoric mounds in the southeast of North America. One contribution presents new evidence on how the immediate environment of Neolithic Funnel Beaker (TRB) culture megaliths was ordered, another one discusses the role of remarkable single and double post alignments around Bronze and Iron Age burial mounds. Zooming out, several chapters deal with the place of barrows in the broader landscape. The significance of humanly-managed heath in relation to barrow groups is discussed, and one contribution emphasizes how barrow orderings not only reflect spatial organization, but are also important as conceptual anchors structuring prehistoric perception. Other authors, dealing with Early Neolithic persistent places and with Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age urnfields, argue that we should also look beyond monumentality in order to understand long-term use of "ritual landscapes". The book contains an important contribution by the well-known Swedish archaeologist Tore Artelius on how Bronze Age barrows were structurally re-used by pre-Christian Vikings. This is his last article, written briefly before his death. This book is dedicated to his memory. This publication is part of the Ancestral Mounds Research Project of the University of Leiden.

In Identity Formation and Diversity in the Early Medieval Baltic and Beyond, the Viking World in the East is made more heterogeneous. Baltic Finnic groups, Balts and Sami are integrated into the history dominated by Scandinavians and Slavs. Interaction in the region between Eastern Middle Sweden, Finland, Estonia and North Western Russia is set against varied cultural expressions of identities. Ten scholars approach the topic from different angles, with case studies on the roots of diversity, burials with horses, Staraya Ladoga as a nodal point of long-distance routes, Rus’ warrior identities, early Eastern Christianity, interaction between the Baltic Finns and the Svear, the first phases of ar-Rus dominion, the distribution of Carolingian swords, and Dirhams in the Baltic region. Contributors are Johan Callmer, Ingrid Gustin, Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, Valter Lang, John Howard Lind, Marika Mägi, Mats Roslund, Søren Sindbaek, Anne Stalsberg, and Tuukka Talvio.

The third of five volumes of new scholarship on American movie conventions. The 19 essays explore cinematic representations of such material items as food, weapons, clothing, tools, technology, and art and literature. Not illustrated. No index. Paper edition (unseen), $13.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This volume covers the full excavation, analysis and interpretation of two early Bronze Age round barrows at Guiting Power in the Cotswolds, a region where investigation and protection of such sites have been extremely poor, with many barrows unnecessarily lost to erosion, and with most existing excavation partial, and of low quality.

This volume contains an account of a pedestrian tour by Mr. Collins in Cornwall, a county to which railways had not yet penetrated at his time. Leaving Plymouth behind him, the author, and his artist friend, Mr. Brandling, threaded the county from St. Germains to the Lizard and the Land’s-End; visiting the most remarkable places, whether of art or nature, and whether the natural attractions were of the quietly beautiful, the desolate, or the magnificent kind. Mr. Collins, as a pedestrian, was of necessity thrown much among the people; and he has picked up many traits of their character, as well as some curious traditions. There are also matters of a more utilitarian cast, but popularly treated—as a mine, the pilchard fishery, an economical survey of the condition of the poor.

Examines the nature of community and religion in the United States, traces the origins of religious freedom along with its advances and setbacks, and surveys the diverse range of religious faith throughout the nation.

In the last decade, a new conception of culture has emerged in sociology, out of the ashes of modernism and post-modernism, that has the potential to radically change how we think about cultural objects and groups in archaeology. Archaeology beyond Postmodernity re-evaluates current interpretive and methodological tools and adapts them to the new position. Many examples are given from Western and indigenous sciences to illustrate this different understanding of science and culture. In addition, several case studies demonstrate how it can be applied to interpret historic and prehistoric cultures.

This collection of fourteen papers presents the latest research into the Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows of Britain.

An illustrated, encyclopedic overview of the prophecies, calendars, and theories that indicate the year 2012 is a threshold of great change for humanity • Looks at the scientific and anthropological evidence for the rare galactic alignment due to occur in December 2012 • Sifts through the catastrophic theories to show what we might really expect in 2012 In December of 2012 the Mayan Calendar’s Great Cycle will come to an end. Opinion remains divided as to whether apocalyptic scenarios of worldwide destruction or utopian visions of a spiritually renewed humanity will prevail after this key date has passed. What is certain, however, is that a rare galactic alignment will occur, one so unique that it is found at the core of many wisdom traditions from around the globe. Geoff Stray has been collecting the vast amounts of data relating to the 2012 phenomena since 1982. Far from confining his research to the Maya, who provide the most prominent predictions indicating this date will herald significant changes for humanity, he has studied the prophetic traditions of other cultures--including the Tibetan, Chinese, Jewish, Ethiopian, and tribal cultures from around the globe--to show the kind of convergence of cosmic purposes happening along a number of parallel tracks. This book offers an extensive study of many modern theories, including Terence McKenna’s timewave zero and Maurice Cotterell’s sunspot research as well as anomalous phenomena such as near death experiences and crop circles. Sifting through all the scientific research and speculation that the year 2012 has inspired, Geoff Stray provides an encyclopedic look at what we might really expect on this pivotal date.