Archaeology of touchstones. An introduction based on finds from Birka, Sweden. / Martin Jezek.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ježek, Martin.

Contributor:

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grave goods--Sweden--Birka--History.

Grave goods.

Prehistoric peoples--Sweden--Birka--Rites and ceremonies.

Prehistoric peoples.

Metallurgy--Sweden--Birka--History.

Metallurgy.

Excavations (Archaeology)--Sweden--Birka.

Excavations (Archaeology).

History.

Rites and ceremonies.

Sweden--Birka.

Physical Description:

220 pages

Place of Publication:

Leiden : Sidestone Press, 2017.

Summary:

Did ancient Europeans truly believe in an active after-life, as modern Europeans would like to think they did? What purpose did grave-goods actually serve? Are archaeology and the historical sciences in general able to shed, once and for all, a curse placed upon them at their inception as research disciplines in the early nineteenth century? Searching for answers to these questions is the aim of this book which has been written on the basis of widely spread, typical components of grave-goods. For the last two centuries, they have been interpreted incorrectly, because of being aligned with archaeologists' ideas about the spiritual world of the society in question.0The book introduces a recently discovered phenomenon that accompanied mankind from his discovery of the uses of metal all the way through to the Middle Ages - that is the importance of touchstones, tools used to determine the nature and test the nature and value of non-ferrous metals. Of the hundreds of thousands of such finds, which have most often been regarded as 'whetstones', the author has made a selection of specimens that cast light on the role of touchstones in the culture of ancient societies, especially in the burial ritual.

Contents:

The (pre)historic background - in brief p. 23

Prehistory in archaeology and prehistory in practice p. 37

Not just stones p. 53

Archaeology, myths and archaeological myths p. 63

Longue durée symbols of elite status p. 75

A symbol for the dead of all ages p. 81

Analysed touchstones from Birka burials p. 87

Metals on touchstones from Birka and elsewhere p. 97

Nickel appearance (Milan Holub and Martin Jezek) p. 109

On the limits of SEM analysis (Milan Holub) p. 117

A lesson from the deep p. 123

Forgotten star witnesses, or Conclusion p. 145.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

9789088905179

9789088905186

9088905185

9088905177

OCLC:

1004725768

Publisher Number:

99975930966