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Archaeology & Anthropology — page 10
792 public-domain archaeology & anthropology books, summarised. Page 10 of 17.

Curiosities of Olden Times
S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould
This collection of historical miscellany invites readers into the dusty, forgotten corners of the past, where the line between solemn tradition and utter absurdity frequently dissolves. It serves as a cabinet of curiosities, documenting the strange habits, beliefs, and legal eccentricities that shaped earlier…

Early Bardic Literature, Ireland
Standish O'Grady
This inquiry into the origins of Irish myth invites readers to look past the cold cataloging of archaeologists and rediscover the living, breathing soul of a nation’s ancient literature.

Shoshone-Bannock Subsistence and Society
Robert F. (Robert Francis) Murphy
SHOSHONE-BANNOCK SUBSISTENCE AND SOCIETY provides a rigorous examination of the seasonal migration, political structure, and territorial history of the Shoshone and Bannock peoples during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It reconstructs the complex interplay between nomadic survival and the encroaching…

South and South Central Africa: A record of fifteen years' missionary labors among primitive peoples
Hannah Frances Davidson
The chronicle of a decade and a half of missionary endeavor in Southern and South Central Africa, this account captures the collision of disparate cultures and the enduring zeal of early twentieth-century evangelism.

The Lake Dwellings of Ireland: Or ancient lacustrine habitations of Erin, commonly called crannogs
W. G. (William Gregory) Wood-Martin
HOOK Across the shallow waters of Ireland, an ancient people drove oaken stakes into the lakebeds, creating sheltered, artificial islands. These silent "crannogs" remain as footprints of an heroic time, long buried beneath the peat.

The legend of Perseus, Volume 1 (of 3)
Edwin Sidney Hartland
The myth of Perseus serves as a gateway to understanding how ancient stories, rituals, and the deepest human questions about life and death have migrated across cultures for millennia.

History of anthropology
Alfred C. (Alfred Cort) Haddon
The story of human self-discovery is a long, fractious, and often messy exploration of our own nature, origins, and physical varieties. This foundational history maps the evolution of a scientific discipline as it matures from curious observation to a complex, evidence-based endeavor.

The preservation of antiquities
Friedrich Rathgen
Time, which eventually reduces all things to dust, finds its match in the methodical, chemical interventions required to stabilize the remnants of the ancient world.

New Discoveries at Jamestown: Site of the First Successful English Settlement in America
John L. (John Lambert) Cotter
The soil of Jamestown holds the physical record of English America’s birth, revealing the daily lives of settlers through the broken pottery, rusted iron, and forgotten foundations they left behind.

The Siouan Indians
W J McGee
The Siouan Indians emerge from this scholarly survey as a complex, dynamic group of tribes whose cultural traditions and social structures were fundamentally shaped by their environment. This text offers a comprehensive, albeit period-specific, look at their history and customs.

Through the Dark Continent, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Henry M. (Henry Morton) Stanley
Through these records, a Victorian explorer documents the harrowing navigation of the African interior, mapping vast lakes and rivers while struggling against the immense physical and cultural barriers of a continent then largely unknown to the West.

Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Episcopal See
C. King Eley
This architectural portrait maps the physical scars and spiritual endurance of a cathedral that has survived sieges, fire, and the tumultuous shifting of centuries.

The Mayas, the Sources of Their History: Dr. Le Plongeon in Yucatan, His Account of Discoveries
Stephen Salisbury
This collection of reports and correspondence chronicles a 19th-century archaeologist’s ambitious quest to uncover the origins of Mayan civilization amidst the remote, overgrown ruins of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Old New Zealand: A Tale of the Good Old Times: And a History of the War in the North against the Chief Heke, in the Year 1845
Frederick Edward Maning
Rough-hewn, irreverent, and acutely observed, this chronicle captures the chaotic early collision between British settlers and Māori society from the vantage point of a European who went native.

The composition of Indian geographical names, illustrated from the Algonkin languages
J. Hammond (James Hammond) Trumbull
Every Indian place name acts as a precise, self-interpreting description of the landscape, functioning not as an arbitrary label but as an enduring, linguistically woven map of the natural world.

Fishes, Flowers, & Fire as Elements and Deities in the Phallic Faiths & Worship of the Ancient Religions of Greece, Babylon, Rome, India, &c
Anonymous
A subterranean stream of ancient symbolism runs through modern human culture, where everyday natural forms mask forgotten rites of generative power and solar reverence.

The Lenape Stone
Henry C. Mercer
A tiny slate gorget plowed out of a Pennsylvania farm field sparks a furious nineteenth-century debate over whether ancient North American hunters fought the hairy mammoth.

A naturalist in Madagascar: A record of observation, experiences, and impressions made during a period of over fifty years' intimate association with the natives and study of the animal & vegetable life of the island
James Sibree
Across dense high-canopy rain forests and sprawling highland plains, a veteran English observer charts fifty years of forgotten tracks, wild lemurs, and local Malagasy customs.

Commentary on the Maya Manuscript in the Royal Public Library of Dresden
Ernst Wilhelm Förstemann
In meticulous, page-by-page fashion, an early modern scholar systematically deciphers a enigmatic pre-Columbian codex, establishing the intricate mathematical foundations and astronomical cycles that governed Maya timekeeping.

Cuba Past and Present
Richard Davey
Majestic mountain ridges drop into unwholesome coastal swamps, shielding an island of incredible natural wealth and tragic political misrule.

Frijoles: A Hidden Valley in the New World
J. W. (Jerome William) Hendron
A deep, shaded gorge carved from volcanic rock holds centuries of human memory, from ancient agricultural life to modern preservation efforts.

The Gypsies
Charles Godfrey Leland
An observer of quiet roads and vanished trails steps into dark tents, joining a wandering people whose language he speaks and whose world he records with sharp, affectionate clarity.

Buchanan's Journal of Man, September 1887: Volume 1, Number 8
Unknown
This late nineteenth-century periodical delivers an aggressive, highly opinionated critique of traditional philosophy alongside an earnest defense of fringe biological and psychic sciences.

Captives among the Indians
Mary White Rowlandson
Driven into the wilderness by raid and warfare, four English and French captives undergo extreme isolation, physical torment, and forced assimilation before seeking their ultimate return.

Patriarchal Palestine
A. H. (Archibald Henry) Sayce
A ancient land of merchants and conquerors comes alive through deciphered cuneiform and monument inscriptions.

The Euahlayi Tribe: A Study of Aboriginal Life in Australia
K. Langloh (Katie Langloh) Parker
Through years of quiet observation on the Narran River, a squatter’s wife documents the intricate beliefs, rituals, and daily life of the Euahlayi people of southeastern Australia.

Travels in the Interior of Brazil: Principally through the northern provinces, and the gold and diamond districts, during the years 1836-1841
George Gardner
A young Scottish botanist crisscrosses the vast wilderness of nineteenth-century Brazil, recording every plant, river, and human settlement he encounters.

Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, April 1900: Vol. 56, Nov. 1899 to April, 1900
Various
An exploration of industrial innovations, scientific methodology, and social debates at the turn of the twentieth century offers a vivid snapshot of an era rapidly transforming its understanding of the natural and physical world.

Place Names in Kent
J. W. (John William) Horsley
Centuries of invasion, settlement, and linguistic shift lie preserved beneath the surface of everyday English place-names.

To the American Indian
Lucy Thompson
Indigenous Yurok voice Lucy Thompson preserves her nation's high-born traditions, sacred ceremonies, and painful histories to counter decades of white misrepresentation and cultural erasure.

Medical symbolism in connection with historical studies in the arts of healing and hygiene
Thomas S. Sozinskey
A scholarly examination of ancient medical iconography reveals how myth, ritual, and early scientific inquiry combined to give shape to the enduring emblems of the healing arts.

Wau-Bun: The "Early Day" of the North-West
Kinzie, John H., Mrs.
A refined bride leaves Eastern civil society for the raw American Northwest, recording the vanished frontier with warm observation and vivid detail.

Brazil and Her People of To-day: An Account of the Customs, Characteristics, Amusements, History and Advancement of the Brazilians, and the Development and Resources of Their Country
Nevin O. (Nevin Otto) Winter
From sprawling tropical coastlines to the rich interior, Nevin O. Winter constructs a methodical, deeply detailed observation of early twentieth-century Brazil as it navigates the transition from empire to young republic.

Buried Cities, Volume 3: Mycenae
Jennie Hall
The hunt for lost civilizations captures the imagination, turning dusty ruins into gateways to the past. This exploration reveals how a legendary Greek city was pulled from the earth, uncovering treasures that confirm the truth behind ancient songs.

Legends, Traditions, and Laws of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and History of the Tuscarora Indians
Elias Johnson
An indigenous chief offers a corrective lens on the history and spirit of his people, challenging the prevailing narratives of the nineteenth century by reclaiming the Iroquois and Tuscarora experience from the margins of colonial record.

Travels in Morocco, Volume 2
James Richardson
HOOK This account captures the mid-19th-century Moroccan frontier through a lens of sharp political critique and meticulous, often weary, observation.

Osage Traditions
James Owen Dorsey
This record captures the foundational lore of the Osage people, preserved through a secret society and transcribed in the late 19th century. It offers a rare, structural glimpse into the cosmological origins and social organization of a nation that views its history not merely as memory, but as a sacred inheritance.

Savage Island: An Account of a Sojourn in Niué and Tonga
Basil Thomson
The colonial administrator’s keen eye for local custom turns a routine diplomatic mission into a poignant, vivid portrait of island life at the turn of the twentieth century.

Scientific American Supplement, No. 1178, June 25, 1898
Various
This collection of technical, historical, and scientific dispatches offers a vivid, snapshot-like window into the industrial and intellectual preoccupations of the late nineteenth century. It captures a world on the brink of profound modernization.

The Iowa
Foster, Thomas, of Washington, D.C.
This monograph provides a scholarly, detailed account of the history, migration, and treaty relations of the Ioway people as documented in the late nineteenth century.

Scotland in Pagan Times
Joseph Anderson
This rigorous archaeological study peels back the layers of Scotland’s Iron Age, revealing how material remnants—from towering stone fortresses to grave-goods—reconstruct a lost, complex society.

The Religion of Ancient Palestine in the Second Millenium B.C
Stanley Arthur Cook
This scholarly investigation reconstructs the spiritual landscape of ancient Palestine, drawing upon archaeological discoveries and non-biblical records to illuminate a world of sacred sites, ritual practices, and divine kingship.

A Hand-book to the Primates, Volume 2 (of 2)
Henry O. (Henry Ogg) Forbes
This volume serves as a comprehensive, systematic survey of the world’s monkey and ape populations, mapping their physical characteristics, habits, and geographical ranges with the precision of a Victorian-era naturalist.

Folk-lore in Borneo
William Henry Furness
This collection of observations serves as a thoughtful, intimate window into the traditions, spiritual lives, and daily habits of the indigenous peoples of Borneo. It offers a rare, grounded look at a world defined by the deep jungle and an intricate system of beliefs that govern every movement, from the planting…

Myology and Serology of the Avian Family Fringillidae: A Taxonomic Study
William B. Stallcup
This technical monograph investigates the evolutionary relationships of the finch family through the rigorous, combined study of avian muscle anatomy and blood protein analysis. It serves as a methodical challenge to the classification systems of the mid-20th century.

Cornwall
S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould
The rugged Cornish peninsula, defined by its granite moors, treacherous coastlines, and ancient tin-mining heritage, offers a distinct, isolated identity within the fabric of England. This survey of the county’s geography, history, and industry captures a land shaped by the Atlantic.

Stonehenge, a Temple Restor'd to the British Druids
William Stukeley
This foundational work of British archaeology reinterprets Stonehenge not as a Roman construction, but as a sacred temple erected by ancient Druids according to the primal, mathematical measures of the patriarchs.

Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri: Edited with Notes and Biographical Sketch
Edwin Thompson Denig
This detailed ethnographic report captures the daily life, customs, and social structures of the Assiniboine and neighboring tribes living along the Upper Missouri River during the mid-19th century.