Books-Scotland

Book Review of The Real Valkyrie by Nancy Marie Brown

In the 1800s, a Viking burial site was unearthed in Birka, Sweden. The burial included a Viking ship, weaponry, game pieces, horses and riding accessories, and other tools. The grave was documented as that of a Viking warrior, as evidenced by the contents of the burial. As Brown shares in her book, most “sexing” (that is, determination of whether a skeleton is male or female) throughout the history of archaeology has been sexing by metal. That is to say, where weapons are found, it is deemed to be a male, where jewelry is found, female. There are a number of reasons why the field of archaeology has used this approach even as DNA testing has emerged, and Brown provides an interesting overview of this process.

Book Review - Non-Fiction, Book Review, Book List, Books-ScotlandDustinDecember 19, 2019Geology, Scotland, Skye, Book Review, Nature, Science, Alan McKirdy, Set in Stone book review, Landscapes in stone book review, Scotland Geology books, Travel books, books about Scottish geology, what kind of geology is in scotlandComment

Scotland: Read Before You Go {Non-Fiction}

Scotland is a country with a long, sordid history. Perhaps its struggles match the dueling nature of its own environment: grandeur and beauty mixed with its hard-scrabble northern world. There were two non-fiction books I read before traveling to Scotland for our 10-day road trip that set the backdrop and provided context that made our trip more meaningful. Neither are quick reads, but both are truly worthwhile reads for those wanting to better understand this country that has long labored to define itself.

Book Review - Non-Fiction, Book List, Books-ScotlandLindseyDecember 5, 2019To Make Much of Time, To Make Much of Time travel blog, bookish travel to Scotland, review of How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest National Created Our World & Everything in It by Arthur Herman, book review of Scotland: The Story of a Nation by Magnus Magnusson, books to read before visiting Scotland, books to read about Scotland, non-fiction books to read about Scotland, non-fiction books about Scotland, non-fiction books to read before you go to ScotlandComment