The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion

by Timothy Insoll (Editor)

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion provides a comprehensive overview by period and region of the relevant archaeological material in relation to theory, methodology, definition, and practice. Although, as the title indicates, the focus is upon archaeological investigations of ritual and religion, by necessity ideas and evidence from other disciplines are also included, among them anthropology, ethnography, religious studies, and history. The Handbook covers a global span-Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, and the Americas-and reaches from the earliest prehistory (the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic) to modern times. In addition, chapters focus upon relevant themes, ranging from landscape to death, from taboo to water, from gender to rites of passage, from ritual to fasting and feasting. Written by over sixty specialists, renowned in their respective fields, the Handbook presents the very best in current scholarship, and will serve both as a comprehensive
introduction to its subject and as a stimulus to further research.

Genres: Archaeology, Nonfiction, Religion

1136 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 2012

Reviews

[Riversue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful compendium of papers on ritual and religion in the archaeological record. Many address the difficulties of seeing religion in the record. The final papers deal with specific types of religion like shamanism and divine kingship. Altogether an excellent compilation.

[R.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good resource. I read it to help me with my fantasy world building and historical novel research.

[Ellana Thornton-Wheybrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and somewhat interdisciplinary look at the archaeology of religions, almost worldwide