Dying for the Gods: Human Sacrifice in Iron Age & Roman Europe

by Miranda Aldhouse-Green

Sacrifice, like death, is one of the great taboos of modern society. The notion that human sacrifice, and even cannibalism, could be considered a most holy act is almost inconceivable. Yet the evidence for human sacrifice in northwest Europe, deriving from both archaeology and the testimony of Classical writers of the first centuries BC and AD, has to be confronted. Professor Green puts forward some reasons for ritual murder and shows how the multiple deposits of bog-bodies at sites like Tollund and Lindow illustrate the importance of place in the sacrificial rite. She also highlights the essential role of the priesthood in sacrificial murder.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Anthropology, Archaeology, Academic, Prehistory, Religion

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

Miranda Green was born in London and educated at Greycoat Hospital, Westminster. She took an Honours degree at University College, Cardiff and an M. Litt. at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She gained a research scholarship at the Open University and was awarded a doctorate in 1981 for her thesis on Romano-Celtic sun-symbolism. She has received research awards from the Society of Antiquities of London and from the British Academy, and was awarded the Leverhulme Research Fellowship at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. After holding posts at Worthing and Peterborough Museums, she took up posts as Tutor in Roman Studies and full-time administrator at the Open University in Wales.

Until recently professor of archaeology at Newport University, Miranda's teaching experience ranges from leading undergraduate courses on Roman Britain and Iron Age Europe to managing and contributing to Newport's MA in Celto-Roman Studies. She has supervised more than twenty PhD and MPhil students to successful completion.

Miranda Aldhouse-Green is Tutor for the MA Archaeology programme, and is module leader for three of the MA skills modules (Research Methods, Writing Archaeology/Writing the Past and Speaking Archaeology). She lectures on Early Celtic Studies and contributes to the third-year undergraduate Theory course.

External responsibilities include membership of the Ancient Monuments Advisory Board for Wales, presidency of the Prehistoric Society (2004-6) and membership of the management board of the University of Wales Press.

Reviews

[Mjm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource for anyone making a study of human sacrifice in ancient times.Very well researched, this work is an important volume in my library, not least because it can draw on more recent archeological findings and anthropological interpretations. Previous scholarly works (i.e. trustworthy sources) are several decades removed from Aldhouse-Green's excellent study, and thus provide a less complete picture.

[Old-Barbarossa · Rating 3 out of 5]

CSI: Iron Age.
Bit dry at times, very well illustrated, very good refs.
Not every body was found in a bog!
Plenty other odd finds.
This looks at an assortment of bodies, or parts, and tries to examine causes of death as well as the "why".
Despite the title of this text I'm left thinking that the reason for some of the deaths are as likely to be killings, judicial or otherwise, as they are to be ritual sacrifices.
If you're a Neo-pagan or Druid you should read it to see that your predecessors were not above a bit of brutality...it wasn't all 'shrooms and sidhe hugging.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please read my review at Celtic Scholar's Reviews and Opinions