The Celtic World: Food and Drink

Tags

archaeology, Celts, education, Iron Age, Leicestershire, Loughborough, prehistory, WEA

In our last session about ‘The Celtic World’, we examined what people would have eaten and drink during the Iron Age. This video clip presents some aspects of daily life in the Iron Age:

If you wish to read more about this subject, you may wish to take a look at some of these:

– Iron Age Food (Ancient Craft)
– What did People Eat at the Time of the Tollund Man?
– Life in an Iron Age village (BBC History)
– British Iron Age diet : stable isotopes and other evidence (article pdf)

Reading List: Frontiers of the Roman Empire

Tags

archaeology, education, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Roman, Roman Britain, WEA

Whilst it is not essential to do any background reading before the course begins, you may find it useful to do so. The reading list below contains books that you can read. You don’t have to read all of these. Indeed, we don’t specify any that you must read. Instead, these are readings you can use to gain a preliminary understanding of topics, as well as to study in more depth those parts of the course you are particularly interested in. You may also want to take a look at magazines such as British Archaeology, World Archaeology and Current Archaeology.

Further suggestions about ways you can extend your understanding of topics through books, television etc may also be posted as appropriate here on the tutor’s personal blog, as well as on the WEA East Midlands Region History Space.

GENERAL HISTORY

Miles, R. 2011. Ancient Worlds: The Search for the Origins of Western Civilisation. Penguin. (A DVD of the BBC TV series which this book accompanies is also available).

ANCIENT TEXTS

Tacitus. Agricola. (Published by Penguin Classics etc)

Tacitus. Germania. (Published by Penguin Classics etc)

FRONTIERS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Birley, A. 2002. Garrison Life at Vindolanda: A Band of Brothers. History Press.

Collins, R. 2014. Hadrian’s Wall and the End of Empire: The Roman Frontier in the 4th and 5th Centuries. Routledge.

Elton, H. 2012. Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Routledge.

Goodman, M. 2011. The Roman World 44 BC – AD 180. 2^nd Edition. Routledge.

Kelly, C. 2006. The Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press

Parker, P. 2010. The Empire Stops Here: A Journey along the Frontiers of the Roman World. Pimlico.

The Celtic World: Roundhouses, Hillforts and Oppida

Tags

archaeology, Celts, education, Iron Age, Leicestershire, Loughborough, prehistory, WEA

In our last session on the Celtic World, we looked at settlement and urbanism. Specifically, we discussed topics such as roundhouses, hillforts and oppida.

Dr. Tom Moore’s research interests focus mainly on the British and French Iron Age, particularly the late Iron Age-Roman transition. In this video he talks about oppida and iron age urbanism.

A good example of a British hillfort is that at Danebury.  The site, covering 5 hectares (12 acres), was excavated by Barry Cunliffe in the 1970s. Danebury is considered a type-site for hill forts, and was important in developing the understanding of hill forts, as very few others have been so intensively excavated.

If you want to find out more, you may wish to investigate the following links:

– Iron Age Roundhouse (Ancient Technology Centre)
– Roundhouse (Wikipedia)
– Atlantic Roundhouse (Wikipedia)
– Hillfort (Wikipedia)
– The Atlas of Hillforts in Britain and Ireland Project (Oxford University)
– Oppidum (Wikipedia)
– Rethinking the Southern British oppidum (article pdf)

The Celtic World: When is the Iron Age?

Tags

archaeology, Celts, education, Iron Age, Leicestershire, Loughborough, prehistory, WEA

The ‘Celtic’ period is also known as the Iron Age. This is an archaeological time period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. In Central Europe, the Iron Age is generally divided in the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture (HaC and D, 800–450) and the late Iron Age La Tène culture (beginning in 450 BC).

The BBC Radio 4 series ‘In Our Time’ has two episodes in its archive which might be of interest and are available to download. One is on the Iron Age in which Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the dawn of the European Iron Age. The other is on the Celts.

Those wishing to follow this subject up may also wish to take a look at:

– Iron Age (Wikipedia)
– British Iron Age (Wikipedia)
– Iron Age Europe (Wikipedia)
– Overview: Iron Age, 800 BC – AD 43 (BBC History)
–Iron Age ‘Celts’ (Education Scotland)

The Celtic World: Who were the Celts?

Tags

archaeology, Celts, education, Iron Age, Leicestershire, Loughborough, prehistory, WEA

In the first session of ‘The Celtic World’, we looked at the question of who the Celts actually were. In this video clip, Curator Julia Farley tackles the idea of what it means to be ‘Celtic’ in relation to the recent British Museum exhibition:

She has also written a post on the subject for the British Museum blog.

Those wishing to follow this subject up may also wish to take a look at:

– Who were the Celts? (Simon James’s Ancient Celts page)
– Celts (Wikipedia)

Exhibition: Valhalla – Life and Death in Viking Britain

Tags

archaeology, medieval, Places to Visit, Shrewsbury, Viking

8th February – 4th June 2016
Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery

A new exhibition – Valhalla – Life and Death in Viking Britain – will open on 8th February at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery.

The exhibition will give an insight into the lives of the Vikings in Britain and will feature artefacts and human skeletons that have been discovered at burial sites. Research on show will include recent evidence discovered about their beliefs in the afterlife and how Vikings commemorated and celebrated their dead. The exhibition will also include objects from working and domestic life, replica objects from boat burials and skeletal remains.

The exhibition will also showcase the Hungate and Coppergate excavations from York as specific case studies, although Shropshire’s own Viking history will also be central to the exhibition. Visitors will be able to learn the story of Hastein, an adventurer who travelled up the River Severn as far as Welshpool and is known to have raided as far afield as southern Europe and north Africa.

Reading List: The Celtic World

Tags

archaeology, Celts, education, Iron Age, Leicestershire, Loughborough, prehistory, WEA

Whilst it is not essential to do any background reading before the course begins, you may find it useful to do so. The reading list below contains books that you can read. You don’t have to read all of these and we don’t specify any that you must read. Instead, these are readings you can use to gain a preliminary understanding of topics, as well as to study in more depth those parts of the course you are particularly interested in. You may also want to take a look at magazines such as British Archaeology, World Archaeology and Current Archaeology.

Further suggestions about ways you can extend your understanding of topics through books, television etc may also be posted here as appropriate, as well as on the WEA East Midlands Region History Space blog.

Aldhouse-Green, M. 2015. The Celtic Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends. Thames and Hudson Ltd.

Aldhouse-Green, M and McDermid, V. 2015. Bog Bodies Uncovered: Solving Europe’s Ancient Mystery. Thames and Hudson Ltd.

Collis, J. 2003. The Celts: Origins, Myths & Inventions. The History Press.

Cunliffe, B. 2003. The Celts: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.

Cunliffe, B. 2013. Britain Begins. Oxford University Press.

Cunliffe, B and Koch, J. T (Eds). 2012. Celtic from the West: Alternative Perspectives from Archaeology, Genetics, Language and Literature. Oxbow Books.

Farley, J and Hunter, F. 2015. Celts: Art and Identity. British Museum Press.

Foster, J. 2002. Life and Death in the Iron Age. Ashmolean Museum.

Gosden, C, Crawford, S, and Ulmschneider, K (Eds). 2014. Celtic Art in Europe: Making Connections. Oxbow Books.

Haywood, J and Cunliffe, B. 2009. The Historical Atlas of the Celtic World. Thames and Hudson Ltd.

MacKillop, J. 2005. Myths and Legends of the Celts. Penguin Books Ltd.

Manco, J. 2015. Blood of the Celts: The New Ancestral Story. Thames and Hudson Ltd.

Pryor, F. 2004. Britain BC: Life in Britain and Ireland before the Romans. Harper Perennial.

Roberts, A. 2015. The Celts: Search for a Civilisation. Heron Books. (Accompanies BBC documentary ‘The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice’, which is available as a DVD).

Nottingham Branch AGM and Talk – Saturday 20th February

Tags

community, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, talk, WEA

The Nottingham Branch AGM will take place on Saturday 20th February at 10.00am at the Nottingham Mechanics, 3 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham NG1 4EZ .  Following a short formal meeting, there will be a talk at 11.00am on “Going to the Pictures” by Michael Payne.

If you are recent WEA student or are planning to attend a WEA class or event, you are welcome to join us to hear more about the WEA.  If you want to have a greater involvement in the activities of the WEA in Nottingham, you will be welcome to join the Branch committee, which meets once every 2 months in Nottingham.

Exhibition: Sunken cities: Egypt’s lost worlds

Tags

Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, archaeology, London, Places to Visit

19 May – 27 November 2016
British Museum, London

Submerged under the sea for over a thousand years, two lost cities of ancient Egypt were recently rediscovered. Their story is told for the first time in this blockbuster exhibition.

Vanished beneath the waters of the Mediterranean, the lost cities of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus lay at the mouth of the Nile. Named after the Greek hero Heracles, Thonis-Heracleion was one of Egypt’s most important commercial centres for trade with the Mediterranean world and, with Canopus, was a major centre for the worship of the Egyptian gods. Their amazing discovery is transforming our understanding of the deep connections between the great ancient civilisations of Egypt and Greece.

For more information or to book tickets, see the British Museum website.