Book Description
Drawing data from a classic region for Paleolithic research inEurope, this book explores how early modern humans obtained lithic rawmaterials and analyzes the different utilization patterns for locallyavailable materials compared with those from a greater distance. Theauthor locates these patterns within an ecological context and arguesthat early modern humans selected specific mobility strategies toaccommodate changes in subsistence environments. ... Read more

Book Description
This is the first comprehensive guide book in English devoted to the Roman remains of southern France. The book embraces Province, the Riviera and Languedoc-Roussillon from the Alps to the Pyrenees. It ranges from sites such as the extensive Roman remains at Vienne in the Rhone valley, the great aqueduct of Pont du Gard, the beautiful ruined temple of Vernegues, to the striking museum collections of Arles and Avignon. The book is easy to use, with a large number of maps, site plans and photographs and it will enable the traveller to explore the major cultural contribution made by the Romans to this part of France. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

For the "Romano-phile" in Southern France Only
If you are interested in Roman history, and plan to travel to southern France, this book might interest you, otherwise look no further.

The subject matter is narrow in scope, and rarely is their a diversion in text.Southern France (note Lyon is not included) is saturated in Roman ruins, and untangling the more interesting from the less is a challenge this book helps to navigate.

The maps can be hard to follow when visiting sites.The terminology is at times quite technical (ie. in describing elements of architecture). The emphasis is specifically on the existing ruins and less on the history of the sites reviewed.

This book did help me organize my visit to southern France. I know of no other book on this subject.It took 6 weeks to receive it from an Amazon associated seller, presumably because it is such a rare book.

scholarly but readable
This book proved to be most useful when I was planning a recent trip to Provence. I took it with me and found it to be a wonderful companion guide. The author clearly has a deep knowledge of the subject. Along with his descriptions of the various sites I especially liked his digressions into subjects like Roman theater and spectacles.I think some of the discussions of small local museums could have been cut and the photographs should be of better quality. Also the maps could be adapted for the general reader. Something to think about if they publish another edition. That said, if you are interested in the ancient Roman remains of Southern France, this is the book to have.

One of a kind!
This book came highly recommended on various chat and message boards for fans of Southern France.I totally understand why.As the South of France and Riviera was a tremendously wealthy Roman area, it is literally full of some of the best ruins and museums devoted to the glory that was Rome to be found anywhere outside of Rome.However, while the Roman areas of Italy are extensively documnted, there is very little on sites in France.This book is the only and best guide to those remains.

This book reviews unearthed Roman towns, such as Vaison La Romain which is 2nd in the world to Pompeii in terms of intact towns.It maps out both the town itself, and also the layouts of many of the larger mansions that are partially standing, along with various anecdotes about the ruins.

This book reviews of course, the larger aqueducts, theaters,forums, and the like, with startling amounts of backround information on each, but this book finds many items of interest that are completely off the radar screen, such as chasms carved into rock that brought the water to towns, old Roman pipework, roadside monuments in the middle of nowhere, the best places at which to examine the old Roman roads, etc.

I have used this book on two trips to the region, and find it amazing.Even at the larger, marked, and serviced monuments, this book can take you just a little farther up the hill, or put what you are examining in a certain perspective so as to get 'the rest of the story' as Paul Harvey says.

This is an amazingly god book, for the intrepid traveler, the armchair archaelogist, and the itinerant tourist.Pick it UP!

One of a kind!
This book came highly recommended on various chat and message boards for fans of Southern France.I totally understand why.As the South of France and Riviera was a tremendously wealthy Roman area, it is literally full of some of the best ruins and museums devoted to the glory that was Rome to be found anywhere outside of Rome.However, while the Roman areas of Italy are extensively documnted, there is very little on sites in France.This book is the only and best guide to those remains.

This book reviews unearthed Roman towns, such as Vaison La Romain which is 2nd in the world to Pompeii in terms of intact towns.It maps out both the town itself, and also the layouts of many of the larger mansions that are partially standing, along with various anecdotes about the ruins.

This book reviews of course, the larger aqueducts, theaters,forums, and the like, with startling amounts of backround information on each, but this book finds many items of interest that are completely off the radar screen, such as chasms carved into rock that brought the water to towns, old Roman pipework, roadside monuments in the middle of nowhere, the best places at which to examine the old Roman roads, etc.

I have used this book on two trips to the region, and find it amazing.Even at the larger, marked, and serviced monuments, this book can take you just a little farther up the hill, or put what you are examining in a certain perspective so as to get 'the rest of the story' as Paul Harvey says.

This is an amazingly god book, for the intrepid traveler, the armchair archaelogist, and the itinerant tourist.Pick it UP! ... Read more

Amazon.com
The mountainous regions of southern France, historian Fernand Braudel observed, were settled earlier and more heavily than most other regions in the Mediterranean. The coastal town of Lattes, writes British archaeologist Cleere by way of example, has been settled since the early Neolithic, or nearly six millennia, its inhabitants then as now drawn by its handsome lagoons and fertile fields.

Cleere describes 104 sites in the region, from the Gironde to the Maritime Alps, keying directions to the Michelin 1:200,000 series of maps. A few of those sites will be well known to travelers with an interest in ancient history: the Maison Carrée and the fine Roman arena at Nimes, for instance, or the great amphitheater at Arles. Other sites are less well known but of great historical significance, such as the stone hill forts on the Plateau de Jastres where the Arveni chieftain Vercingetorix suffered defeat at the hands of Julius Caesar, and the great limestone caverns at Le Mas d'Azil, where magnificent examples of late Magdalenian period cave art have been found. The book is illustrated with high-quality photographs, maps, architectural plans, and line drawings, and accompanied by sidebars explaining points of historical and cultural interest. This includes, for example, notes on the eerie Celtic "severed head cult" and the development of the Aretine pottery industry in southern France.

The book makes a splendid companion for travelers seeking a window into the ancient past, one that will take them away from the crowds and into little-explored country. --Gregory McNameeBook Description
The Midi, between the Massif Central and the Mediterranean, is the region of France that is richest in archaeological treasures, and these are described in the OAG to South France. The earliest of these date back to the Palaeolithic period, some twenty thousand years ago, when our ancestors were decorating caves and rock shelters with dramatic depictions of hunting and ritual. Later human cultural evolution in the region is represented by strongly defended hilltop settlements and by impressive funeral mounds and dolmens. Greek colonists arrived around 600 BC and set up towns along the coast, trading with the local peoples, and these are the origins of the main towns of the present day, such as Marseilles, Nice, and Arles.The region was annexed by Rome in the 2nd century BC and the prosperous new province was endowed with many fine public buildings, such as the amphitheatres and theatres at Arles, Nimes, and Orange, the network of roads, and massive towns walls, as at Carcassonne. In addition, there is plenty of evidence of more mundane aspects of daily life, such as the water-mill at Barbegal, the potteries of La Graufesenque, and the houses of the town dwellers at Vaison-la-Romaine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Unique guide for archaeology minded traveler
The little known Oxford Archaeological Guides series provides information that you cannot find elsewhere This guide was written by Henry Cleere in 2001 and gives information about many of the (mostly Roman) archaeological sites of southern France. Sites are described in great detail with an emphasis on how the site might have looked in ancient times and changes occurring over centuries. Information is provided here that I have not seen in any other guidebook. The amazing Roman bridge the Pont du Gard, near Nimes, is described in great detail. This immense stone structure was built in 20 BC over the river Gard to supply water to the expanding settlement of Nemausus (present day Nimes). The automobile-sized stone blocks of which the bridge is built were quarried from a site less than a kilometer upstream. There is no better illustration of the power and wealth of ancient Rome than that such a massive structure was built (50 meters high and 275 meters wide) merely to provide abundant water for a minor settlement. Other not-to-be missed sites are given the attention they deserve: The very similar amphitheaters of Arles and Nimes are well described. The beautiful Roman theater and the triumphal arch at Orange are explored in detail I have not seen elsewhere. This book would not be suitable as the only guidebook to take with you on a trip, the information provided is far too specialized. I'd recommend taking along the Michelin Green guides or the Knopf guide for Provence as well. Some minor drawbacks: the drawings and maps are not as detailed as they could be and the few photographs that are provided are black and white and of poor quality. These complaints are not critical flaws; the book would still be invaluable even if it didn't contain a single illustration. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
A collection of essays put together by colleagues, friends, and students of William M. Sumner to honor his contribution to Iranian archaeology and archaeological field methodology. Topical contributions emphasize the methodological aspects of analysis of survey data, while regional contributions focus on two of the main geographical areas studied by archaeologists in Iran: the southwest and the northwest. Papers primarily concern the fifth to second millennia BCE in the southwest and the first millennium BCE in both areas. With its interdisciplinary approach, this volume is of interest to Iranists, as well as students of general ancient and modern Near Eastern studies. Several themes recur: the relations between mobile and sedentary peoples; the difficulty of identifying political or cultural boundaries; and the importance of geographical factors in understanding sociocultural phenomena. ... Read more

Book Description
This richly illustrated report recounts the excavation and analysis of the 12th & 13th C AD levels at the site of Gritille in SE Turkey, a provincial settlement interesting particularly for its place on the border between Islamic and Christian states. The authors use historical archaeology to investigate daily life in the Anatolian 'badlands'. ... Read more

Book Description
This combination of workbook and CD-ROM functions as a "virtual field school" that gives students the opportunity to carry out an excavation using real data. Based on excavations at the Middle Paleolithic site of Combe-Capelle in France, the exercises included in Virtual Dig ask students to access the CD's database to analyze and interpret findings. ... Read more