Scotland In Pagan Times The Iron Age The Rhind Lectures In Archaeology For 1881

Author : Joseph Anderson
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9780331770742
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (77 download)

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Download or read book Scotland in Pagan Times written by Joseph Anderson and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-11-23 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Scotland in Pagan Times: The Iron Age; The Rhind Lectures in Archaeology for 1881 Christian Times and Pagan Times, because the pheno mena with which I am dealing do themselves exhibit a clearly defined distinction, and are separable from each other by their characteristics according as they are products of Christian or of Pagan forms of culture and civilisation. For instance, while Paganism existed, there were two customs which gave a distinctly typical character to the archaeological deposits of the heathen period. These were (1) the burning of the bodies of the dead; and (2) the deposit with the dead (whether burnt or unburnt) of grave-goods urns, weapons, clothing, personal ornaments, and implements and utensils of domestic life. Previous to the introduction of Christianity, the burials are characterised by cremation or by the association of urns, arms, implements, and ornaments. After the introduction of Christianity these characteristics cease. The substitution of Christianity for Paganism thus produced an alteration in the character of the archaeological deposits exactly comparable to that which was produced by the substitution of bronze for stone, or of iron for bronze; and the difference between the Christianity and the Paganism of a people or an area, as thus manifested, is therefore a true archaeological distinction. But no archaeological boundary is of the nature of a hard and fast line. The deposits which constitute the periodic divisions of archaeology (like those of the geological series) About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.