Download or read book Prehistoric Avebury written by Aubrey Burl and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This magnificent book is a fascinating account of the prehistoric stone circles at Avebury, which not only II date from an earlier era but are also larger than the more famous sarsen stone circle of Stonehenge. Written by a leading archaeologist, the book considers every aspect of Avebury's history and construction and discusses the probable purpose of these massive structures, in the process creating a vivid and moving picture of their creators -- a primitive people whose lives were brief, savage, and fearful.

Download or read book The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age Roman and Medieval Europe written by Marta Díaz-Guardamino and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-10-01 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the pervasive influence exerted by some prehistoric monuments on European social life over thousands of years, and reveals how they can act as a node linking people through time, possessing huge ideological and political significance. Through the advancement of theoretical approaches and scientific methodologies, archaeologists have been able to investigate how some of these monuments provide resources to negotiate memories, identities, and power and social relations throughout European history. The essays in this collection examine the life-histories of carefully chosen megalithic monuments, stelae and statue-menhirs, and rock art sites of various European and Mediterranean regions during the Iron Age and Roman and Medieval times. By focusing on the concrete interaction between people, monuments, and places, the volume offers an innovative outlook on a variety of debated issues. Prominent among these is the role of ancient remains in the creation, institutionalization, contestation, and negotiation of social identities and memories, as well as their relationship with political economy in early historic European societies. By contributing to current theoretical debates on materiality, landscape, and place-making, The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe seeks to overcome disciplinary boundaries between prehistory and history, and highlight the long-term, genealogical nature of our engagement with the world.

Download or read book Exploring Avebury written by Steve Marshall and published by History Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Avebury in Wiltshire is best known as the world's largest stone circle, but surrounding it is a wealth of ancient monuments. Captivated by its unique atmosphere, many visitors form a personal, often spiritual, connection to Avebury and its 'sacred landscape'. What was it that first attracted people to the Avebury area more than 5,000 years ago?Beautifully illustrated with over 400 photographs, maps and diagrams, Exploring Avebury invites us on a journey of discovery. For the first time the importance of water, light and sound is revealed, and we begin to see Avebury through the eyes of those who built it.

Download or read book The Avebury Landscape written by Graham Brown and published by Oxbow Books Limited. This book was released on 2005 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is over one hundred years since the publication of the wide ranging archaeological field investigation undertaken on the Marlborough Downs by the Rev A C Smith. His work Guide to the British and Roman Antiquities of the North Wiltshire Downs in a Hundred Square Miles round Abury was originally published in two volumes in 1884 by the Marlborough College Natural History Society, then reprinted and bound into a single volume and published in 1885 by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society after half the original print run was destroyed in a fire. As in most works of inventory the volume has certainly stood the test of time and is still one of the basic reference texts for students of the area. Since then, apart from a few notable exceptions, archaeological literature about the area has been largely site-based and there has been little concerning the Marlborough Downs as a whole. In order to try and redress this imbalance, a day conference was organised in April 2002 at the University of Bath, Swindon, where it was possible to acknowledge and mark the ongoing validity of Smith's work and where a number of papers on various aspects of recent research on the Marlborough Downs were presented. The results of the conference are presented in this volume, together with a number of other commissioned contributions from individuals who have undertaken research in the area during the last decade or so. Each essay stands alone, but they are connected by a common theme, that of the land and how it has changed over millennia.

Download or read book Wisdomkeepers of Stonehenge written by Graham Phillips and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-06-18 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reveals how Stonehenge was an extraordinary astronomical calendar used in the cultivation of ingredients for long-forgotten botanical cures • Explores how Stonehenge and other stone circles were ancient healing sanctuaries and celestial calculators for the preparation of natural medicines • Explains how the megalithic priesthood--and their successors, the Druids--developed astonishing memory techniques to preserve knowledge over generations • Draws upon the very latest discoveries from recent archaeological excavations and overlooked historical source material Stonehenge is just one of thousands of stone circles erected throughout Britain and Ireland for over three millennia from 3,000 BC on. How did this building tradition survive for so long, over such a large area and with such complexity and uniformity, when the people of the British Isles lived in separate, isolated communities and left no evidence of a central leadership or obvious communication network? Graham Phillips argues that these stone circles are evidence of an astonishing system of healthcare and preservation of ancient medical knowledge that held together a society scattered across the British Isles. With stones aligned to the sun, moon, and certain stars, these ancient monuments enabled the precise timings necessary for the cultivation of medicinal plants. He explains how the megalithic priesthood possessed medical knowledge well beyond their time and may even have discovered a cure for cancer. Furthermore, because they had no form of writing, the megalithic people developed phenomenal memory techniques to preserve their knowledge over many generations, resulting in a class of wisdomkeepers that were not only healers but the living libraries of their culture. Drawing upon the latest discoveries from recent archaeological excavations and overlooked historical source material, Phillips reveals that the megalithic culture survived far longer than previously thought and that the people who held it together were an enigmatic shamanic sect ultimately called the Druids. Uncovering the secrets of ancient megalithic culture and the purpose of their enigmatic stone circles, Phillips contends that all the evidence has now been gathered to unlock the secrets encoded in the stones--and perhaps discover remedies for diseases still uncured by modern medicine today.

Download or read book The Mysteries of Stonehenge written by Nikolai Tolstoy and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2016-09-15 with total page 896 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mythic foundations of the world's greatest archaeological mystery.

Download or read book Stonehenge written by Mike Parker Pearson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-04-06 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stonehenge is one of the world's most famous monuments. Who built it, how and why are questions that have endured for at least 900 years, but modern methods of investigation are now able to offer up a completely new understanding of this iconic stone circle. Stonehenge's history straddles the transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age, though its story began long before it was built. Serving initially as a burial ground, it evolved over time into a sacred place for gathering, feasting and building, and was remodelled several times as different peoples arrived in the area along with new technologies and customs. In more recent centuries it has found itself the centre of excavations, political protests and even conspiracy theories, embedding itself in the consciousness of the modern world. In this book Mike Parker Pearson draws on two decades of research, the results of recent excavations and cutting-edge scientific analyses to uncover many of the secrets that this prehistoric stone circle has kept for 5,000 years. In doing so, he paints the most comprehensive picture yet of the history of Stonehenge, from its origins up to the 21st century, and reveals how in some ways trying to explain its power of attraction in the present is harder than explaining its purpose in the ancient past.

Download or read book Ancient Astronomy written by Clive L.N. Ruggles and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2005-10-21 with total page 549 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authoritative introduction to the fascinating topic of archaeoastronomy—ancient peoples' understanding and use of the skies. Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth draws on archaeological evidence and oral traditions to reveal how prehistoric humans perceived the skies and celestial phenomena. With over 200 entries, it offers a number of ways to approach ancient astronomy, from key examples and case studies worldwide (Stonehenge; Mexican and Egyptian pyramids; Chaco Canyon, New Mexico; the Nazca lines in Peru) to general themes (cosmologies, calendars, ancient ideas of space and time, origin myths), to fundamental concepts and methods (how the sky has changed over the centuries, how to survey a site), and to the field's most frequently asked questions (How did ancient peoples navigate the ocean using the stars? How does astrology relate to ancient astronomy? Can ancient sites be dated astronomically?) By revealing the astronomical significance of some of the world's most famous ancient landmarks and enduring myths and by showing how different themes and concepts are connected, Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth brings a unique authoritative perspective to an area too often left to speculation and sensationalism.

Download or read book The Stonehenge People written by Rodney Castleden and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-01-31 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1990. Of all the monuments left by the past, Stonehenge is the most evocative, the most memorable and the most mysterious. Whilst the monuments of other cultures have gradually surrendered their mysteries, Stonehenge alone seems to stimulate endless conjecture. Rodney Castleden's vivid presentation of the world of the megaliths answers many of the most baffling questions about Stonehenge. There are, he stresses, few absolute certainties, but from the vast body of evidence assembled during the last hundred years it is now possible to get much closer to the truth than ever before. Who built the monuments and for what purpose? How were the bluestones moved from the sacred mountains of the west to Salisbury Plain? Who were the people responsible for this amazing undertaking, and what did they think and believe?

Download or read book Archaeology Hotspot Great Britain written by Donald Henson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-03-12 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Archaeology Hotspots series offers reader-friendly and engaging narratives of the archaeology in particular countries. Written by archaeological experts with a general reader in mind, each book in the series focuses on what has been found and by whom, what the controversies and scandals have been, ongoing projects, and how it all fits into a broader view of the history of the country. In Archaeology Hotspot Great Britain, expert Donald Henson first chronicles the deep archaeology of a long settled region—including England, Wales, and Scotland—then explores both the famously ancient finds (cave art at Creswell Crags, Stonehenge) and more recent and iconic historic sites and monuments (such as Westminster Abbey and Ironbridge Gorge). He profiles the often larger-than-life personalities and also the previously-marginalized women who have contributed to British archaeology; the controversies influencing how we see the past are also highlighted. Henson considers London’s position in the antiquities trade and the safeguarding of heritage sites. As a whole, the book tells a fascinating story of Great Britain’s history, culture, national heritage, and ongoing role as a hotspot of archaeology.

Download or read book Before the Delusion written by William Gleeson and published by SCB Distributors. This book was released on 2020-06-16 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this thrilling novel, Dr. Liam Kelly PhD, SJ, is a renowned scholar of Biblical history who has spent a lifetime researching pre-Christian documents in the Vatican archives. With his knowledge of a dozen ancient languages, he compiles a dossier of the secrets of the archives and uncovers startling linked secret meaning of the Pyramids Stonehenge. But he learns the story can never be told, because twisted through the threads of pagan history are other dark secrets the Church does not want to reveal. Dr. Kelly wrestles with his inner demons, torn between loyalty to his Church and the temptation of telling the truth. At risk to his personal safety, he defies Church hierarchy to find a way to reveal the old knowledge of pagan mysteries.

Download or read book Avebury written by Mark Gillings and published by Bristol Classical Press. This book was released on 2004-10-28 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on new research data accumulated by the authors in their fieldwork at the archaeological site at Avebury, this title examines the range of meanings and interpretations Avebury has accumulated over 4500 years.

Download or read book Haunted Spaces Sacred Places written by Brian Haughton and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2009-03-31 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WHAT IS BEHIND THE STRANGE PHENOMENA AT OUR WORLD's ANCIENT SITES? Haunted Spaces, Sacred Places is a fascinating and thoroughly researched exploration of the archaeology, legends, and modern mysteries of 32 ancient places throughout the world - from the mysterious megaliths of Britain and Ireland, the haunted tombs of the Etruscans, and the Pagan origins of Germany's Aachen Cathedral to the ancient Native American city of Cahokia, the enigmatic Cambodian Temple of Angkor Wat, and the sacred Aboriginal rock formation of Uluru. Why are strange phenomena so often connected with these ancient sites? Are certain sacred places somehow able to generate or attract paranormal phenomena? Or can such events be explained in terms of modern myth and contemporary folklore? What can the legends and folklore of ancient places throughout the world reveal to us about the beliefs and ideas of our ancient ancestors? These are just some of the questions answered in Brian Haughton's enthralling book.

Download or read book The Book of Unconformities written by Hugh Raffles and published by Verse Chorus Press. This book was released on 2022-04-18 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of lnsectopedia, a powerful exploration of loss, grief, endurance, and the absences that permeate the present. Unconformities are gaps in the geological record, physical evidence of breaks in time. For Hugh Raffles, these holes in history are also fissures in feeling, knowledge, memory, and understanding. In this endlessly inventive, riveting book, Raffles enters these gaps, drawing together threads of geology, history, literature, philosophy, and ethnography to trace the intimate connections between personal loss and world historical events, and to reveal the force of absence at the core of contemporary life. Through deeply researched explorations of Neolithic stone circles, Icelandic lava, mica from a Nazi concentration camp, petrified whale blubber in Svalbard, the marble prized by Manhattan's Lenape, and a huge Greenlandic meteorite that arrived in New York City along with six Inuit adventurers in 1897, Raffles shows how unconformities unceasingly incite human imagination and investigation yet refuse to conform, heal, or disappear. A journey across eons and continents, The Book of Unconformities is also a journey through stone: this most solid, ancient, and enigmatic of materials, it turns out, is as lively, capricious, willful, and indifferent as time itself.

Download or read book Stone Tools Society written by Mark Edmonds and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-11-12 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stone tools are the most durable and, in some cases, the only category of material evidence that students of prehistory have at their disposal. Exploring the changing character and context of stone tools in Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain, Mark Edmonds examines the varied ways in which these artefacts were caught up in the fabric of past social life. Key themes include:stone tool procurement and production * the nature of technological traditions * stone tools and social identity * the nature of exchange and the significance of depositional practices. As well as contributing to current debate about the interpretation of material culture, Dr. Edmonds uses the evidence of stone tools to reconsider some of the major horizons of change in later British prehistory.From the production of tools at spectacularly located quarries to their ceremonial burial or destruction at ritual monuments, this well-illustrated study demonstrates that our understanding of these varied and sometimes enigmatic artefacts requires a concern with their social, as well as their practical dimensions.

Download or read book The Presented Past written by B. L. Molyneaux and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-09-02 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Presented Past is concerned with the differences between the comparatively static, well-understood way in which the past is presented in schools, museums and at historic sites compared to the approaches currently being explored in contemporary archaeology. It challenges the all-too-frequent representation of the past as something finished, understood and objective, rather than something that is `constructed' and therefore open to co-existing interpretations and constant re-interpretation. Central to the book is the belief that the presentation of the past in school curricula and in museum and site interpretations will benefit from a greater use of non-documentary sources derived from archaeological study and oral histories. The book suggests that a view of the past incorporating a larger body of evidence and a wider variety of understanding will help to invigorate the way history is taught. The Presented Past will be of interest to teachers, archaeologists, cultural resource managers, in fact anyone who is concerned with how the past is presented.

Download or read book Perceptions of the Prehistoric in Anglo Saxon England written by Sarah Semple and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-24 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perceptions of the Prehistoric in Anglo-Saxon England represents an unparalleled exploration of the place of prehistoric monuments in the Anglo-Saxon psyche, and examines how Anglo-Saxon communities perceived and used these monuments during the period AD 400-1100. Sarah Semple employs archaeological, historical, art historical, and literary sources to study the variety of ways in which the early medieval population of England used the prehistoric legacy in the landscape, exploring it from temporal and geographic perspectives. Key to the arguments and ideas presented is the premise that populations used these remains, intentionally and knowingly, in the articulation and manipulation of their identities: local, regional, political, and religious. They recognized them as ancient features, as human creations from a distant past. They used them as landmarks, battle sites, and estate markers, giving them new Old English names. Before, and even during, the conversion to Christianity, communities buried their dead in and around these monuments. After the conversion, several churches were built in and on these monuments, great assemblies and meetings were held at them, and felons executed and buried within their surrounds. This volume covers the early to late Anglo-Saxon world, touching on funerary ritual, domestic and settlement evidence, ecclesiastical sites, place-names, written sources, and administrative and judicial geographies. Through a thematic and chronologically-structured examination of Anglo-Saxon uses and perceptions of the prehistoric, Semple demonstrates that populations were not only concerned with Romanitas (or Roman-ness), but that a similar curiosity and conscious reference to and use of the prehistoric existed within all strata of society.