Prehistoric Henges

Prehistoric Henges PDF Author: Aubrey Burl
Publisher: Shire Publications
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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Book Description
"Stonehenge is only one of almost a hundred vast circular earthworks built in Britain and Ireland over five thousand years ago. Known as henges, they remain one of the mysteries of prehistoric Britain. With their overgrown banks and weathered ditches they attract few visitors. Yet discoveries have revealed fascinating glimpses of the beliefs of their builders. Excavations have unearthed grim evidence of forgotten rituals: a child's sacrifice at Woodhenge; a human burial at the centre of Arbor Low; winter moonlight at Stonehenge. Such things hint at the power and importance that these huge enclosures once had. The effort needed to raise these spacious rings of earth or chalk, the careful planning of their entrances, the settings of stone or timber inside them and the avenues leading uphill from nearby rivers all make henges among the most exciting and intriguing of the ancient monuments of the British Isles." --Back cover.

Prehistoric Henges

Prehistoric Henges PDF Author: Aubrey Burl
Publisher: Shire Publications
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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Book Description
"Stonehenge is only one of almost a hundred vast circular earthworks built in Britain and Ireland over five thousand years ago. Known as henges, they remain one of the mysteries of prehistoric Britain. With their overgrown banks and weathered ditches they attract few visitors. Yet discoveries have revealed fascinating glimpses of the beliefs of their builders. Excavations have unearthed grim evidence of forgotten rituals: a child's sacrifice at Woodhenge; a human burial at the centre of Arbor Low; winter moonlight at Stonehenge. Such things hint at the power and importance that these huge enclosures once had. The effort needed to raise these spacious rings of earth or chalk, the careful planning of their entrances, the settings of stone or timber inside them and the avenues leading uphill from nearby rivers all make henges among the most exciting and intriguing of the ancient monuments of the British Isles." --Back cover.

The Prehistoric Peak

The Prehistoric Peak PDF Author: Andrew Johnstone
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1446639029
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
THE PREHISTORIC PEAK is a practical guide to discovering and exploring the Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments of the Peak District, not with the intention of explaining their origins, but to encourage everyone to go and see them for themselves as they are today. After all, they are located in some of the most spectacular landscapes available to us in Britain today and make fascinating destinations for journeys that are about experiencing all the wonders of the world around us. Each site has been personally visited by the author and is described through photographs, ground plans of what can be seen today, custom maps with step-by-step, clear, concise directions on how to find each one and all the necessary GPS and OS grid references. It also includes practical advice on how to make your exploration of the Prehistoric Peak as pleasurable and safe as possible.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge PDF Author: Clive Ruggles
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 1835538223
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Stonehenge is one of the most famous ancient monuments in the world and its solar alignment is one of its most important features. Yet although archaeologists have learned a huge amount about this iconic monument and its development, a sense of mystery continues about its purpose. This helps fuel numerous theories and common misconceptions, particularly concerning its relationship to the sky and the heavenly bodies. A desire to cut through this confusion was the inspiration for this book, and it fills a gaping hole in the existing literature. The book provides both an introduction to Stonehenge and its landscape and an introduction to archaeoastronomy—the study of how ancient peoples understood phenomena in the sky, and what role the sky played in their cultures. Archaeoastronomy is a specialism critical to explaining the relationship of Stonehenge and nearby monuments to the heavens, but interpreting archaeoastronomical evidence has often proved highly controversial in the past. Stonehenge: Sighting the Sun explains why. It makes clear which ideas about Stonehenge are generally accepted and which are not, with clear graphics to explain complicated concepts. This beautifully illustrated book shines new light on this most famous of ancient monuments, and is the first in-depth study of this fascinating topic suitable both for specialists and for anyone with a general interest.

Prehistoric Britain from the Air

Prehistoric Britain from the Air PDF Author: Timothy Darvill
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521551328
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
This book provides a bird's eye look at the monumental achievements of Britain's earliest inhabitants. Arranged thematically, it illustrates and describes a wide selection of archaeological sites and landscapes dating from between 500,000 years ago and the Roman conquest. Timothy Darvill brings to life many of the familiar sites and monuments that prehistoric communities built, and exposes to view many thousands of sites that simply cannot be seen at ground level. Throughout the book, he makes a unique application of social archaeology to the field of aerial photography.

Henge Monuments of the British Isles

Henge Monuments of the British Isles PDF Author: Jan Harding
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
The later Neolithic henges are a distinctive yet enigmatic class of monument. Taken as indicative of the emerging social complexity of the third millennium BC, they are often seen as the culmination of cultural achievement during this period. Yet little is actually known about these monuments -- their origins, the meanings behind their distinctive layout, the activities undertaken within their perimeters, or indeed their significance to later Neolithic society. Drawing on the full range of data available across the British Isles and on anthropological parallels, the author addresses these questions in a book that will be of interest to anyone wishing to understand Neolithic society.

Wessex: A Landscape History

Wessex: A Landscape History PDF Author: Hadrian Cook
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1803275367
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
Wessex is famous for its coasts, heaths, woodlands, chalk downland, limestone hills and gorges, settlements and farmed vales. This book provides an account of the physical form, development and operation of its landscape as it was shaped by our ancestors. Major themes include the development of agriculture, settlements, industry and transport.

British and Irish Archaeology

British and Irish Archaeology PDF Author:
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719018756
Category : Excavations (Archaeology)
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description


Orientation of Prehistoric Monuments in Britain: A Reassessment

Orientation of Prehistoric Monuments in Britain: A Reassessment PDF Author: Alistair Marshall
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1789697069
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 704

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Book Description
Reassesses major axial alignment at many megalithic ritual and funerary monuments (Neolithic to Bronze Age) in Britain and Ireland, not in terms of abstract astronomical concerns, but as an expression of repeated seasonal propitiation involving community, agrarian economy and ancestry in an attempt to mitigate variable environmental conditions.

The Henge Monuments

The Henge Monuments PDF Author: Geoffrey Wainwright
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 9780500390252
Category : Bronze age
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
Explains what recent excavations reveal about ancient henges and the society that built them.

Prehistoric Britain

Prehistoric Britain PDF Author: Timothy Darvill
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136973036
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 592

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Book Description
Britain has been inhabited by humans for over half a million years, during which time there were a great many changes in lifestyles and in the surrounding landscape. This book, now in its second edition, examines the development of human societies in Britain from earliest times to the Roman conquest of AD 43, as revealed by archaeological evidence. Special attention is given to six themes which are traced through prehistory: subsistence, technology, ritual, trade, society, and population. Prehistoric Britain begins by introducing the background to prehistoric studies in Britain, presenting it in terms of the development of interest in the subject and the changes wrought by new techniques such as radiocarbon dating, and new theories, such as the emphasis on social archaeology. The central sections trace the development of society from the hunter-gatherer groups of the last Ice Age, through the adoption of farming, the introduction of metalworking, and on to the rise of highly organized societies living on the fringes of the mighty Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. Throughout, emphasis is given to documenting and explaining changes within these prehistoric communities, and to exploring the regional variations found in Britain. In this way the wealth of evidence that can be seen in the countryside and in our museums is placed firmly in its proper context. It concludes with a review of the effects of prehistoric communities on life today. With over 120 illustrations, this is a unique review of Britain's ancient past as revealed by modern archaeology. The revisions and updates to Prehistoric Britain ensure that this will continue to be the most comprehensive and authoritative account of British prehistory for those students and interested readers studying the subject.