Byways in British Archaeology

Church buildings, burial grounds and village customs provide Walter Johnson with clues to the survival of older beliefs. His archaeological essays centre on what he calls folk-memory: the ways communities preserve practices whose original meanings may have changed. Drawing on observations of hundreds of buildings in England and Wales, he considers churches on pagan sites, the direction of churches and graves, and the place of the yew in the churchyard.

The discussion moves between physical evidence and written accounts. In the section on burial customs, corn found near ancient graves leads into comparisons with offerings of food and the later social rituals of funeral feasts. Other chapters examine ordinary uses of church buildings and traditions surrounding horses and oxen. Readers interested in local history and folklore can follow Johnson's attempts to connect familiar places with earlier customs, while his preface acknowledges disputed conclusions and competing explanations.