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Title: Times Anvil Post by: Radnor Bandit (Ian) on March 20, 2014, 01:29:18 PM Times Anvil ,England, Archaeology and the Imagination,
By Richard Morris Published 07/11/2013 Publisher Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ) ISBN 9781780222448 ..History thrives on stories. TIME'S ANVIL explores archaeology's influence on what such stories say, how they are told, who tells them and how we listen. In a dazzlingly wide-ranging exploration, Richard Morris casts fresh light on three quarters of a million years of history in the place we now think of as England. Drawing upon genres that are usually pursued in isolation - like biography, poetry, or physics - he finds potent links between things we might imagine to be unrelated. His subjects range from humanity's roots to the destruction of the wildwood, from the first farmers to industrialization, and from Tudor drama to 20th-century conflict. Each topic sits at a different point along the continuum between epoch and the fleeting moment. In part, this is a history of archaeology; in part, too, it is a personal account of the author's history in archaeology. But mainly it is about how the past is read, and about what we bring to the reading as well as what we find. The result is a book that defies categorisation, but one which will by turns surprise, enthral and provoke anyone who cares for England, who we are and where we have come from. (Review from Waterstones Website) Morris also discusses the importance of Metal Detecting and its invaluable addition to the historical record and also berates the majority of archeologists that have little knowledge of detectorists and how detectors work. He uses the example of the battle of Naseby where the comprehensive use of competent detectorists have changed the entire perceived knowledge of the battle and shows how the ebb and flo of the battle actually took place. Title: Re: Times Anvil Post by: cardiffian on March 20, 2014, 05:58:47 PM It is good when archaeologists of his ilk raise their heads above the parapets, and are not afraid to speak out in favour of responsible metal detecting and the advantages when metal detecting is used as a further tool for surveying such sites. I guess the majority of archaeologists won't be buying the book if they have been berated by him.
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