'Ritual Failure' is a new concept in archaeology adopted from the discipline of anthropology. Resilient religious systems disappearing, strict believers and faithful practitioners not performing their rites, entire societies changing their customs: how does a religious ritual system transform, change or disappear, leaving only traces of its past glory? Do societies change and then their ritual? Or do customs change first, in turn provoking wider cultural shifts in society? Archaeology possess...

Many are no larger than a fingertip. They are engraved with symbols, magic spells and images of gods, animals and emperors. These stones were used for various purposes. The earliest ones served as seals for making impressions in soft materials. Later engraved gems were worn or carried as personal ornaments - usually rings, but sometimes talismans or amulets. The exquisite engraved designs were thought to imbue the gems with special powers. For example, the gods and rituals depicted on cylinde...

In this book you will find a complete overview of medieval shoes from Olaf Goubitz. There are contributions of Carol van Driel-Murray on Roman shoes and from Willy Groenman-van Waatering on prehistoric shoes. You will find hundreds and hundreds of drawings and reconstructions and viarities. It is possible to make your own shoes, based on the reconstructions and drawings presented. The specialist finds a complete classification model for medieval shoes and will find it easy to classify his own...