Ancient chroniclers, including Julius Caesar himself, made the Druids and their sacred rituals infamous throughout the Western world. But in fact, as Miranda Aldhouse-Green shows in this fascinating book, the Druids’ day-to-day lives were far less lurid and much more significant. Exploring the various roles that Druids played in British and Gallic society during the first centuries B.C. and A.D.—not just as priests but as judges, healers, scientists, and power brokers—Aldhouse-Green argues that they were a highly complex, intellectual, and sophisticated group whose influence transcended religion and reached into the realms of secular power and politics. With deep analysis, fresh interpretations, and critical discussions, she gives the Druids a voice that resonates in our own time.

Caesar's Druids: An Ancient Priesthood

History

Aldhouse-Green, Miranda

Ancient Civilizations

Yale University Press

An Archaeology of Images: Iconology and Cosmology in Iron Age and Roman Europe

Using archaeology and social anthropology, and more than 100 original line drawings and photographs, An Archaeology of Images takes a fresh look at how ancient images of both people and animals were used in the Iron Age and Roman societies of Europe, 600 BC to AD 400 and investigates the various meanings with which images may have been imbued. The book challenges the usual interpretation of statues, reliefs and figurines as passive things to be looked at or worshipped, and reveals them instead as active artefacts designed to be used, handled and broken. It is made clear that the placing of images in temples or graves may not have been the only episode in their biographies, and a single image may have gone through several existences before its working life was over. Miranda Aldhouse Green examines a wide range of other issues, from gender and identity to foreignness, enmity and captivity, as well as the significance of the materials used to make the images. The result is a comprehensive survey of the multifarious functions and experiences of images in the communities that produced and consumed them. Challenging many previously held assumptions about the meaning and significance of Celtic and Roman art, An Archaeology of Images will be controversial yet essential reading for anyone interested in this area.

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Routledge

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

The grisly story of the bog bodies, updated via details of archaeological discovery and crime-scene techniques Some 2,000 years ago, certain unfortunate individuals were violently killed and buried not in graves but in bogs. What was a tragedy for the victims has proved an archaeologist’s dream, for the peculiar and acidic properties of the bog have preserved the bodies so that their skin, hair, soft tissue, and internal organs―even their brains―survive. Most of these ancient swamp victims have been discovered in regions with large areas of raised bog: Ireland, northwest England, Denmark, the Netherlands, and northern Germany. They were almost certainly murder victims and, as such, their bodies and their burial places can be treated as crime scenes. The cases are cold, but this book explores the extraordinary information they reveal about our prehistoric past. Bog Bodies Uncovered updates Professor P. V. Glob’s seminal publication The Bog People, published in 1969, in the light of vastly improved scientific techniques and newly found bodies. Approached in a radically different style akin to a criminal investigation, here the bog victims appear, uncannily well-preserved, in full-page images that let the reader get up close and personal with the ancient past. 78 illustrations, 15 in color

Bog Bodies Uncovered: Solving Europe's Ancient Mystery

Thames&Hudson

A beautifully produced guide to the world of Celtic mythology, bringing together archaeology, history, and fantastical stories to paint a vivid picture of Celtic heritage From gods, heroes, and monsters to Druids, sorcerers, and talking animals, TheCeltic Myths explores every aspect of Irish and Welsh myths in this appealing and authoritative guide. Besides vividly retelling the tales, Miranda Aldhouse-Green brings her expertise in the archaeology of the Iron Age and particularly shamanism to bear on the mythical world she describes, with evidence as diverse as the Gundestrup Cauldron and the famous bog bodies. Starting with a discussion of how myths are transmitted and by whom, Aldhouse-Green continues with an account of Irish and Welsh myths, their key actors and motifs, and themes such as heroes, animals, women, environment, and the Otherworld. The book concludes with a look at the influence of monastic chroniclers on the tales, which they preserved and adapted. Boxed features, quotes from primary texts and contemporary sources, two-color illustrations, photographs, and drawings all come together to create a comprehensive guide for anyone interested in Celtic history or the history of myth as well as anyone who simply loves a good story. 82 illustrations

The Celtic Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends (Myths, 2)

Religion & Spirituality

A compelling new account of religion in Roman Britain, weaving together the latest archaeological research and a new analysis of ancient literature to illuminate parallels between past and present
Two thousand years ago, the Romans sought to absorb into their empire what they regarded as a remote, almost mythical island on the very edge of the known world―Britain. The expeditions of Julius Caesar and the Claudian invasion of 43 CE, up to the traditional end of Roman Britain in the fifth century CE, brought fundamental and lasting changes to the island. Not least among these was a pantheon of new classical deities and religious systems, along with a clutch of exotic eastern cults, including Christianity. But what homegrown deities, cults, and cosmologies did the Romans encounter in Britain, and how did the British react to the changes? Under Roman rule, the old gods and their adherents were challenged, adopted, adapted, absorbed, and reconfigured.
Miranda Aldhouse- Green balances literary, archaeological, and iconographic evidence (and scrutinizes the shortcomings of each) to illuminate the complexity of religion and belief in Roman Britain. She examines the two-way traffic of cultural exchange and the interplay between imported and indigenous factions to reveal how this period on the cusp between prehistory and history knew many of the same tensions, ideologies, and issues of identity still relevant today. 110 illustrations

Sacred Britannia: The Gods and Rituals of Roman Britain

Celtic Wales: A Pocket Guide

In A Pocket Guide: Celtic Wales, Miranda Green and Ray Howell provide a wide-ranging and accessible introduction to a rich and complex phase of Wales’s past as they examine the archaeological and historical evidence for settlement in Wales from about 700 B.C. to AD 1000, a period which has long been labeled as “Celtic.” This well-illustrated book puts Celtic Wales in its European context and contributes to current debates on Celticity and ethnic identity. It also examines the unity and diversity of Celtic Wales from Iron Age settlement and Roman occupation through the early Christian and medieval periods, exploring topics such as tribal identity, economy and trade, art and religion, the interaction between Celtic and Roman Wales, and early medieval myths.

A Pocket Guide: Celtic Wales

Howell, Ray

University of Wales Press

Boudica Britannia

When Roman troops threatened to seize the wealth of the Iceni people, their queen, Boudica, retaliated by inciting a major uprising, allying her tribe with the neighbouring Trinovantes. The ensuing clash is one of the most important - and dramatic - events in the history of Britain, standing testament to what can happen when an insensitive colonial power meets determined resistance from a subjugated people head-on.\nIn this fascinating account of a legendary figure, Miranda Aldhouse-Green raises questions about female power, colonial oppression, and whether Boudica would be seen today as a freedom fighter, terrorist or martyr.

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Archaeology of Images

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Aldhouse-Green, Miranda. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Aldhouse-Green, Miranda

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Aldhouse-Green, Miranda. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Caesar's Druids: An Ancient Priesthood

An Archaeology of Images: Iconology and Cosmology in Iron Age and Roman Europe

An Archaeology of Images: Iconology and Cosmology in Iron Age and Roman Europe

Bog Bodies Uncovered: Solving Europe's Ancient Mystery

The Celtic Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends (Myths, 2)

Sacred Britannia: The Gods and Rituals of Roman Britain

Celtic Wales: A Pocket Guide

A Pocket Guide: Celtic Wales

Boudica Britannia

Archaeology of Images