Beyond Celts, Germans and Scythians: Archaeology and Identity in Iron Age Europe / Edition 1

by Peter S. Wells, Richard Hodges

Overview

Who were the Iron Age peoples of Europe? Celts, Germans, Scythians: these are among the names that come to mind. But such names, and the characteristics associated with them, come to us from outside observers - Greek and Roman writers - rather than from their own words. To understand how late prehistoric groups constructed and expressed their identities, the author examines the rich archaeological evidence left by the Iron Age Europeans themselves.

Recent theoretical and methodological advances in anthropology, archaeology and history, together with results of archaeological research all over Europe, provide the basis for a new approach to the problem of the identities of Iron Age peoples. Peter Wells uses patterns of identity revealed in the archaeology to interpret the commentaries of Greek and Roman authors who conveyed their own perceptions of these non-literate groups. Finally, he examines ways in which Iron Age Europeans responded to the Greek and Roman representations of them. The result was an ever-changing mosaic of complex and dynamic identities among the diverse peoples of Late Iron Age Europe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780715630365
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/12/2001
Series:	Debates in Archaeology
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.35(d)

About the Author

Peter S. Wells is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, USA. His recent works include The Battle that Stopped Rome (2003), Beyond Celts, Germans and Scythians (2001), Settlement, Economy, and Cultural Change at the End of the European Iron Age (1993), and The Barbarians Speak: How the Conquered Peoples Shaped Roman Europe (1999).

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Figures
1. Identity and the Archaeology of the Iron Age
2. Changing Identities in Early Iron Age Europe
3. Creating Interregional Identities
4. Representations of the Other: First Texts
5. Territoriality and Identity in the Late Iron Age Landscape
6. Outsiders' Views: Roman and Greek Representations
7. Responding to Representation
8. Afterthoughts
Bibliographic Essay
Works Cited
Index