Books

Insoll T. (ed.). (2009). Materiality, Belief, Ritual - Archaeology and Material Religion. Special edition of Material Religion 5 (3). Oxford: Berg.

Recently, research focused on the archaeology of ritual and religions has developed significantly. Yet the extent to which these studies engage with the materiality of ritual and religions and what this might tell us about their definition and reconstruction in past contexts is variable. This special themed peer-reviewed volume explores how far material culture and materiality itself can be 'read' in archaeological contexts as indicative of creating, sustaining, and possibly even transforming beliefs, ideas, understandings and values in relation to religion and ritual practice.

Insoll, T. (2007). Archaeology. The Conceptual Challenge. London: Duckworth.

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The central question which this book seeks to explore is - are we trying to reconstruct a past in our own image, chained solely to our own unacknowledged emotional, intellectual, and philosophical traditions? Should we in fact attempt to look anew at the fundamental concepts we often take for granted and, seeing them as constructs of the relatively recent past, begin to acknowledge our limitations and perhaps engage more profitably with archaeological evidence in various ways? Concepts considered include time, age and experience, literacy, text and the oral/aural, colour, emotions and the senses, the wild and nature, and the global and local. Wittgenstein's thought on the notion of family resemblance is taken as a starting point, yet the end result is not another nihilist offering based upon a post-modernist collapsed perspective, but rather a considered approach, which is ultimately positive in tone, owing a debt, if anything, to the philosophical outlooks of critical realism. Brief extracts of reviews include:

Insoll, T. (ed.). (2007). The Archaeology of Identities. A Reader. Abingdon: Routledge.

Sample Chapter - Insoll, T. 2007. Configuring Identities in Archaeology. (In), Insoll, T. (ed.). The Archaeology of Identities. A Reader. London: Routledge, pp. 1-18.

This volume rectifies an existing major gap in the literature through providing a reader of core texts relating to the archaeological study of identities (gender, age, sexuality, the body, disability, ethnicity, class, caste and outcast, ideology, and religion). This reader is both about what archaeology can tell us about identities, but also about the "doing" of the archaeology of identities, and it reflects the varied theoretical and methodological approaches which have been adopted in the pursuit of the archaeological study of identities. The volume is prefaced by a substantial introductory essay considering the archaeology of identities with particular reference paid to the definitions, concepts, and labels we employ, the potential ethical, political, and social implications and consequences inherent in the subject, and the notion of the archaeology of identities in relation to multi-culturalism.

Insoll, T. 2004. Archaeology, Ritual, Religion (Themes in Archaeology). London: Routledge. 184pp. ISBN 0415253136.

This volume provides the first ever comprehensive consideration of the relationship between archaeology, religion, and ritual. It considers how archaeologists have dealt with and defined the categories of ritual and religion, and assesses both past and contemporary theoretical approaches to the subject. These include evolutionary, structuralist, Marxist, cognitive-processual, phenomenological, and post-processual ones. Theoretical approaches to religion within cognate disciplines are also reviewed including philosophy, theology, anthropology, psychology, and history of religions. Myth, time, emotion, and analogy are considered with reference to major case studies drawn from West Africa. Finally, a new theoretical approach to the archaeological study of religion is briefly explored. Examples of extracts from reviews of this book include:

Mike Pitts in British Archaeology (Sept. 2004) writes that, "it is a compelling analysis of religion....a valuable text for the thinking archaeologist and student. Insoll argues convincingly that archaeologists should not be frightened about religion".

A.K.Stevens in PalArch (www.PalArch.nl) states that, "Far from a how to do manual, the book represents rather a moment of reflection on past and contemporary approaches to the subject....Archaeology, Ritual, Religion is to be very welcomed as an accessible and thought-provoking means of broadening horizons, rich in observations that resonate...".

Insoll, T. 2003. The Archaeology of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa (Cambridge World Archaeology). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 470pp. ISBN 0521657024.

This volume provides the first ever continent wide review of Islamic archaeology in sub-Saharan Africa. It firmly places Islam within its pre-Islamic contexts, and in so-doing anchors the material as African rather than being a foreign implant. Furthermore, this book is also unique in employing a social perspective in considering the evidence, i.e. not merely providing sequences of monument types but evaluating why people converted to Islam, and how syncretic religious traditions have been created in the fusion of Islam and African traditional religions. This is achieved through adopting an inter-disciplinary approach. Examples of extracts from reviews of this book include:

David Robinson in H-SAfrica (www.h-net.org/reviews) writes, "Timothy Insoll has put together a remarkable study....based on considerable experience of archaeological research of his own in West and East Africa, and a thorough reading of the archaeological and historical literature, Insoll is able to give invaluable statements of synthesis and commentary on the major issues. Insoll has provided an invaluable study of Islam and archaeology that will serve as a benchmark for years to come. This book is a must for libraries and serious scholars of Islam, Africa and archaeology".

Trevor Marchand in Antiquity (2004, 78, p.301) writes that, "This is a book long overdue....and its major contribution is surely the weave it produces between the social, religious, historical, and archaeological dimensions of Islam. Undoubtedly, the book will prove to be a valuable text for archaeology students and of definite appeal to those with an interest in Africa and Islam".

Insoll, T. 1999. The Archaeology of Islam. (Social Archaeology Series). Oxford: Blackwells Publishers. 274 pp. ISBN 0631201157.

This book is the first ever consideration of what actually constitutes an archaeology of Islam. It provides a consideration of all categories of material evidence which might indicate the existence of a Muslim in the archaeological record, and in so doing uses anthropological evidence as much as archaeological. Uniquely, it also takes a truly world wide perspective on the Muslim community, including material from contemporary Muslim communities in the UK through to those of 7th century AD Arabia, or 14th century AD Indonesia. It has received great critical acclaim, and has been translated into Turkish by Homer Kitaberi Ve Yayincilik Ltd. Examples of brief extracts from reviews of this book include:

Peter Shinnie writes in the Times Higher Education Supplement (13 July 2001) that, "the standard of scholarship shown by the author is considerable and his understanding of Islam most impressive".

Nancy Benco in Antiquity (2000, Vol 74, p.980), states that, "The Archaeology of Islam constitutes one of the most theoretically stimulating and modern treatises on the investigation of religious ideology available today....it offers all archaeologists, no matter where they work, a comprehensive case-study for investigating the impact of belief systems on the material culture of complex societies".

Insoll, T. (with other contributions) 2005. The Land of Enki in the Islamic Era. Pearls, Palms, and Religious Identity in Bahrain. London: Kegan Paul. 566 pp. ISBN 0710309600. An Arabic summary is available as a PDF.

This book presents the results of research and fieldwork completed in Bahrain in 2001 that had as its primary aim the investigation of the little understood period between the 6th-13th centuries AD. Thus all aspects of the excavated material are considered in detail (see Bahrain photo galleries). However this volume provides more than a presentation of primary archaeological data; hence subjects such as the role of trade and commerce in creating the complex history manifest in the Arabian Gulf region are considered, as are religious and other identities, such as ethnicity and gender. The growth and impact of the Carmathians, the evolution of Shi'ah identity, the significance of Indian and African populations are all evaluated using a multi-disciplinary approach drawing upon archaeology, history, and ethnography. Extracts of reviews include:

Paulo Farias writing for the Crown Prince Court of Bahrain and the Bahrain National Museum (Jan 2006) states that the book, "is a model of what the best kind of historical archaeology can achieve. By applying sophisticated theoretical insights to a wealth of empirical evidence, it offers to the world of scholarship a superb resource for understanding Early and Middle Islamic Bahrain".

Søren Andersen in the Bulletin of the Society for Arabian Studies (2006, p.50) writes that, "the book presents a refreshing contribution to the archaeology of Bahrain and eastern Arabia and provides what is badly needed to increase our understanding of the material culture of the Islamic periods: more data and discussion".

Insoll, T. (ed.). 2001. Archaeology and World Religion. London: Routledge. 226 pp. ISBN 0415221552.

This volume considers theoretical and methodological issues surrounding the archaeological investigation of world religions in general, as well as providing a detailed examination of such issues in relation to Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism. It also assesses the implications of belief in approaching the archaeological study of extant world religions and how ethics, gender, and the evolution of religion are pertinent within their study. Extracts from reviews include:

Nayanjot Lahiri writes in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (2002, 8, p.779) that, "many aspects of world religions that are absent from discussions that are anchored in textual sources have emerged in this stimulating collection and it is likely to be widely used by academics and non-specialists interested in archaeology and religion".

Whilst Diane Treacy-Cole states in the Journal of Contemporary Religion (2001, 17, p.271) that, "This collection of essays offers much that should stimulate discussion. The book challenges archaeologists to move beyond description in categorising material remains and invites scholars of religion to include material culture in investigating these traditions".

Insoll, T. 1996. Islam, Archaeology and History. Gao Region (Mali) Ca.AD 900-1250. Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 39. BAR S647. Oxford: Tempus Reparatum. 143 pp. ISBN 0860548325.

Insoll, T (with other contributions). 2000. Urbanism, Archaeology and Trade. Further Observations on the Gao Region (Mali). The 1996 Fieldseason Results. BAR S829. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports. 165 pp. ISBN 1841711233.

These two volumes present the results of a major project completed between 1993-1996 in the city of Gao and its surrounding region on the River Niger in Mali. Gao is considered from its origins in the sixth to seventh centuries AD through to the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries AD. Excavations delimited various components of the merchants’ town; part of a mosque, a stone defensive wall and a rich merchants’ house/palace, as well as areas of a neighbouring quarter, Gadei, where architectural traditions and by implication influences and potentially populations differed. The results of test-excavations at the immense tell site of Gao-Saney, and at Koima on the opposite bank of the Niger are also described. The beads, ceramics, metals, hippopotamus ivory, glass, faunal and botanical remains etc. recovered, are all described and illustrated. Prior research is considered at length in relation to trans-Saharan trade in the ‘medieval’ period, and to theories of Islamisation in the region, especially the ‘three-fold’, nomads, traders/townspeople, sedentary agriculturalist model. The research is contextualised within its wider setting in relation to sites associated with the Empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai.

Insoll, T. (ed.). 2008. Current Archaeological Research in Ghana. Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 74. BAR S1847. Oxford: Archaeopress. 149 pp. ISBN 9781407303345.

This volume is available from www.archaeopress.com

This volume presents the results of either ongoing or recently completed archaeological research in the Department of Archaeology, University of Ghana, Legon. It both provides a needed opportunity for indigenous publication and a profile of the Department as it repositions itself in terms of its disciplinary identity and focus in encompassing 'Heritage Studies'. The volume was largely completed during my tenure of a visiting scholarship in the Department, and, empirically, it spans the Late Stone Age through to recent historical archaeology.

Insoll, T. (ed.). 2004. Belief in the Past. The Proceedings of the 2002 Manchester Conference on Archaeology and Religion. BAR S1212. Oxford: Archaeopress. 136 pp. ISBN 1841715751.

Insoll, T. (ed.). 1999. Case Studies in Archaeology and World Religion. The Proceedings of the Cambridge Conference. BAR S755. Oxford: Archaeopress. 187 pp. ISBN 0860439569.