{"product_id":"9781842173190","title":"The Tribe of Witches by Stephen James Yeates","description":"Until now the old religions of Britain have only been looked at  in a piecemeal way. This book presents a detailed and focused  investigation of the religion of the  Dobunni  and the  Hwicce  peoples who occupied the Severn valley and the Cotswolds immediately before and after the Roman occupation. It  uncovers some secrets of the old religion of Britain that have  lain hidden in reams of unconnected and largely forgotten  information, from a variety of sources. The first part of the  book concerns the deification of the natural world; the second,  the deities of the tribal groups. It explores the deities of the  different areas of the Dobunnic\/Hwiccan territory; identifying  the goddess of the Cotswolds, and describes how the worship  manifested itself. Yeates demonstrates how the deification of  rivers was important and how this has led to the location of a  number of ancient river shrines as well as the identification of  a number of monumental arrangements used by the peoples in their  religious activities and folk-group identity; numerous  recognisably pre-Old English folk-names are also shown to relate  specifically to river-names, town-names, and folk-group-names.   The religious use of the hill-forts, of which there are so many  dotted over the landscape, and their shrines is discussed. These  are connected with mineral extraction, warfare, nemetons, and  sacred groves. The use for standing totems and burial practices  is also covered. Once the associations are made between deity,  river, and folk-group, and all other aspects of religion have  been discussed the deity who resided over the Dobunni is  revealed. Her cult, which was evident in the major Roman towns,  can be traced back into the Iron Age, and can be identified as  the inspiration for the tribal name  Hwicce . This shows an element of continuity in British culture, not recognised  previously because of the assumed obliteration of British culture  due to the extent, success, and longevity of the Roman occupation  and Anglo-Saxon migration. Understanding the tribal goddess also  explains why this people were \"the tribe of witches\". Finally, it  is recognised that these gods did not perish but persisted in  medieval legends, traditions and place-names. Although at its  core this is a study of two British tribes, the work will have a  major impact on the understanding of pre-Christian religion not  only in Britain but also in Western Europe generally.\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56307753025909,"sku":"9781842173190","price":26.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781842173190.jpg?v=1762805151","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9781842173190","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}