The Stonehenge People: An Exploration of Life in Neolithic Britain 4700-2000 BC / Edition 1

by Rodney Castleden

Overview

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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415040655
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/29/1990
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Rodney Casdeden is a geographer and geomorphologist by training and has been actively involved in research on landscape processes and prehistory for the last twenty years. He is also the author of The Knossos Labyrinth (1989), Minoans (1990) and The Making of Stonehenge (I993).

Table of Contents

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, FOREWORD BY SIR MICHAEL TIPPETT, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, INTRODUCTION, 1. THE MYSTERIOUS MONUMENT, PART 1: SETTLEMENT AND AGRICULTURE, 2. HERE IN THIS MAGIC WOOD, 3. HEARTH AND HOME, 4. THE BROKEN CIRCLE, PART 2: INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS, 5 OF THE EFFECTE OF CERTAINE STONE, 6. CLAY CIRCLES: THE FIRST POTTERY, 7. BY WHAT MECHANICAL CRAFT, 8. BY THE DEVIL’S FORCE, PART 3: THE CEREMONIAL MONUMENTS, 9. EARTH CIRCLES AND EARTH LINES: THE RITUAL FUNCTION, 10. THE OLD TEMPLES OF THE GODS, 11. DIALOGUE WITH DEATH, PART 4: PEOPLE, POLITY AND PHILOSOPHY, 12. THE LAUGHING CHILDREN, 13. THE PEACEFUL CITADEL, 14. THE GREAT MYSTERY, 15. THE SPEAKING STONES, CONCLUSION, 16. CHILDHOOD’S END, APPENDIX: CONVERSION TABLES FOR RADIOCARBON DATES, REFERENCES, INDEX

Editorial Reviews

'...readable and useful...where a new or alternative idea is presented, it is clearly described...well balanced in approach and style, taking the reader as far as the evidence is likely to allow and no further.' - Nature

'This richly illustrated book will give the reader a profound insight into the mysteries and daily life of the ancient inhabitants of Britain.' - New Humanity

'The book is an ambitious attempt to bring the Neolithic period to life.' - The London Archaeologist

'A feast is in store for you. We are taken skilfully on an archaelogical tour of other ancient monuments and tombs in Britain and Ireland without ever getting bored or distracted. You want to re-read the book and let your own imagination roam in those far off days and see what implications this has on our present day existence. A marvellous book.' - New Humanity

'... readable and useful ... Wherever a new or alternative idea is presented it is clearly described ... well balanced in approach and style, taking the reader as far as the evidence is likely to allow and no further.' - Nature

'This imaginative book ... [contains] a richness of expression not usually encountered in archaeological books ... The book is an ambitious attempt to bring the Neolithic period to life, and the author has some interesting and sometime provocative statements to make.' - The London Archaeologist

'This richly illustrated book will give the reader a profound insight into the mysteries and daily life of the ancient inhabitants of Britain.' - New Humanity

'A feast is in store for you. We are taken skilfully on an archaeological tour of other ancient monuments and tombs in Britain and Ireland, without ever getting bored or distracted. You want to re-read the book and let your own imagination roam in those far off days and see what implications this has on our present day existence. A marvellous book.' - New Humanity

From the Publisher