Ritual and Domestic Life in Prehistoric Europe

by Richard Bradley

This fascinating study explores how our prehistoric ancestors developed rituals from everyday life and domestic activities. Richard Bradley contends that for much of the prehistoric period, ritual was not a distinct sphere of activity. Rather it was the way in which different features of the domestic world were played out until they took on qualities of theatrical performance.

With extensive illustrated case-studies, this book examines farming, craft production and the occupation of houses, all of which were ritualized in prehistoric Europe. Successive chapters discuss the ways in which ritual has been studied, drawing on a series of examples that range from Greece to Norway and from Romania to Portugal. They consider practices that extend from the Mesolithic period to the Early Middle Ages and discuss the ways in which ritual and domestic life were intertwined.

Genres: Archaeology, Prehistory, History

Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Richard John Bradley, FSA, FSA Scot, FBA (born 18 November 1946) is a British archaeologist and academic. He specialises in the study of European prehistory, and in particular Prehistoric Britain.

There is more than one author by this name. See also: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is essentially a criticism of the way many European archaeologists (both in the Americas and Europe) view most of their materials in a sacred versus secular dichotomy. Bradley's point is that the Neolithic through Iron age societies probably didn't have such a cut and dried view. He goes through a variety of examples and re-interpretations of material.

One has to give it to Bradley, he does take a post-modern or post-processual view but combines it with a healthy amount of data. He also tries to limit his interpretations and rarely goes into some meta-theory for all of prehistoric Europe.

This is an enjoyable read, but not his best book. For that, I would point to his Social Foundations of Prehistoric Britain, or The Passage of Arms.

[Gordon Eldridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bradley's main argument is that the line between domestic life and religious ritual is much more blurred in prehistoric Europe than many archaeologists would like to believe. He makes some very powerful points and quotes some fascinating evidence. If I were to base my rating of the book purely on the points made I would rate it more highly. The argument is sometimes difficult to follow, however. Bradley often presents multiple pieces of evidence without always making clear exactly how they connect to the ongoing argument he is making. He also has a tendency to relate an abundance of detail about the particular archaeological sites he uses as evidence when only some of that detail is relevant to his point. The concluding chapter and summaries at other points of the book alleviate this to some extent, but a more tightly presented argument would have made for much more enjoyable reading.