David Brown Book Company

Uffington White Horse and its landscapes; investigations at White Horse Hill, Uffington, 1989-95, and Tower Hill, Ashbury, 1993-4. (CD-ROM included)

Following the donation of the land surrounding this remarkable prehistoric monument to the National Trust in 1979, a number of studies were carried out, including archaeological excavation between 1989-1995. The results of the excavations of the White Horse, Tower Hill, and the related local sites, including the linear ditch, the Ridgeway, the Manger, Dragon Hill, the Barrows, and the hillfort are presented in this thorough and well documented text. Chapters are included on the earliest theories and studies, the Tower Hill Axe Hoard, and artefactual and environmental evidence from White Horse Hill. In addition to the plates and tables within the text, the CD- ROM contains a digital version of the text, a large number of tables keyed to be read with the text, 360-degree photos of White Horse Hill and the surrounding area, and other images. Distributed in North America by the David Brown Book Company. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Urban carnival; festive culture in the Hanseatic cities of the eastern Baltic, 1350-1550.

Mänd's 2000 doctoral dissertation in Medieval studies for the Central European University in Budapest was published in its original Estonian by Brepols Publishers in 2004 as Pidustused keskaegse Liivimaa linnades 1350-1550. For the English edition, she has dropped some of the explanation of Western customs, and added background information on the region called Livonia, roughly modern Estonia and Latvia. She explores the festivals celebrated there during the two centuries by the upper and middle layers of society, in particular by merchants' associations such as the Great Guilds, the Brotherhoods of the Black Heads, and city councils. Most of her study is devoted to the four main annual festivals of the merchant associations — Christmas, Carnival, the popinjay shoot, and the elections of the May Count — and other recurrent festivals and feast days. Distributed in the US by the David Brown Book Company. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The vernacular workshop; from craft to industry, 1400-1900.

The 14 papers of this collection are revised versions of those presented at a conference held at Oxford U. (UK) in October 2002. Illustrated with many b&w plates of historic views, archaeologic drawings, and present views, the papers present discussion of the workshop and early industrial economies in Britain, their architecture and archaeology. The textile industry receives pride of place, though there are also papers on the industries that produced boots and shoes, cutlery, jewelry, and iron. Distributed by the David Brown Book Company. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Woven into the earth; textiles from Norse Greenland.

Wood is scarce in Greenland, as it was from about 950-1450, the tenure of the Norse in Greenland. As a result, these people buried their dead in layers of clothing. When crowberry and dwarf willows sent down their roots, they transfixed the bodies and clothes to the earth in a tangle of fibers, as excavators found in 1921. Ostergard goes beyond even this level of detail as she describes all of the textiles found in 25 excavation sites related to the Norse of Greenland. Along with the inevitable scraps she describes full garments, including gowns, caps, hoods and hose. She even provides patterns for items drawn on grids, and a complete analysis of the fibers for each piece. The result is a remarkably complete record of a people who settled in Greenland for 500 years, only to disappear from the face of the earth, leaving their dead swaddled amongst the roots. Distributed in the US by the David Brown Book Company. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Yarnton; Saxon and medieval settlement and landscape; results of excavations, 1990-96.

This volume reports in detail on the archaeological research carried out between 1990-96 by the Oxford Archaeological Unit of the Yarnton- Cassington study area for the 5th century to the post-medieval period. The chapters detail the trends in settlement and landscape and the essentials of Saxon society then provide descriptions of the four phases studied. Pottery, artefacts, metallurgy, human burials, animal bone, and environmental evidence are discussed in separate chapters. Hey is the main author, though there are 37 other (mainly co-) contributors. The volume is well illustrated with b&w plates of drawings and photos. Distributed by the David Brown Book Company. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)