| Beyond Celts, Germans and Sycythians: Archaeology and Identity in Iron Age Europe Contributor(s): Wells, Peter S. (Author), Hodges, Richard (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0715630369 ISBN-13: 9780715630365 Publisher: Bristol Classical Press OUR PRICE: $35.59 Product Type: Paperback Published: July 2001 Annotation: Who were the Iron Age peoples of Europe? Celts, Germans, Scythians: these are among the names that come to mind. But such names and the characteristics associated with them, come to us from outside observers - Greek and Roman writers - not from the native peoples themselves. To understand how late prehistoric groups constructed and expressed their identities, we need to examine the rich archaeological evidence left by the Iron Age Europeans themselves. Recent theoretical and methodological advances in anthropology, archaeology and history, together with results of archaeological research all over Europe, provide the basis for a new approach to the problem of the identities of Iron Age peoples. Peter Wells uses patterns of identity revealed in the archaeology to interpret the commentaries of Greek and Roman authors who conveyed their own perceptions of these non-literate groups. Finally, he examines ways in which Iron Age Europeans responded to the Greek and Roman representations of them. The result was an ever-changing mosaic of complex and dynamic identities among the diverse peoples of Late Iron Age Europe. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Archaeology |
| Dewey: 930.1 |
| Series: Duckworth Debates in Archaeology |
| Physical Information: 0.48" H x 5.74" W x 8.46" (0.46 lbs) 176 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Who were the Iron Age peoples of Europe? Celts, Germans, Scythians: these are among the names that come to mind. But such names, and the characteristics associated with them, come to us from outside observers - Greek and Roman writers - rather than from their own words. To understand how late prehistoric groups constructed and expressed their identities, the author examines the rich archaeological evidence left by the Iron Age Europeans themselves. Recent theoretical and methodological advances in anthropology, archaeology and history, together with results of archaeological research all over Europe, provide the basis for a new approach to the problem of the identities of Iron Age peoples. Peter Wells uses patterns of identity revealed in the archaeology to interpret the commentaries of Greek and Roman authors who conveyed their own perceptions of these non-literate groups. Finally, he examines ways in which Iron Age Europeans responded to the Greek and Roman representations of them. The result was an ever-changing mosaic of complex and dynamic identities among the diverse peoples of Late Iron Age Europe. |