Prehistoric ritual and religion : essays in honour of Aubrey Burl

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Prehistoric ritual and religion : essays in honour of Aubrey Burl

edited by Alex Gibson & Derek Simpson

Sutton Pub., 1998

  • : pbk

Other Title

Essays in honour of Aubrey Burl

Available at  / 3 libraries

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Note

Bibliography: p. 221-236

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

ISBN 9780750915977

Description

Written by distinguished scholars, the latest methods of research are applied to selected sites and monuments to suggest new ways of approaching this evocative, archaeological subject. Prehistoric astronomy, the Celtic ritual calendar and orientaion of stone age monuments in relation to lunar or solar observations are also considered.
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780750915984

Description

Ritual monuments are among the most remarkable and enduring aspects of prehistory. They are a tangible reminder of life in the distant past. In modern times, they form the focus of constant study and reinterpretation because they provide a key for modern understanding of prehistoric people. In this text, the authors apply modern research to selected prehistoric sites in order to suggest ways of approaching one of the most evocative subjects in archaeology. The book concentrates first on monumental remains such as stone circles, passage graves, timber circles, palisaded sites and henge monuments. These structures indicate the richness and emotive power of prehistoric architecture, and they are among the most conspicuous signs of early human society to survive in substantial numbers in the present landscape. The authors go on to examine the ceremonial aspects of prehistoric manufacture and trade in order to account for the ritual value of artefacts. In particular, they consider the magical significance of stone axes, jet artefacts, ceramics and wooden idols which had more than a simple utilitarian purpose for our ancestors. They also assess prehistoric astronomy, the Celtic ritual calendar and the orientation of stone age monuments in relation to lunar or solar observations. The book takes a broad view of the subject as a whole, and covers sites and monuments in Ireland, Scotland, England, Brittany and elsewhere in North-West Europe.

Table of Contents

  • Part 1 Monuments: stone circles and passage graves - a contested relationship
  • double entrance henges - routes to the past?
  • the Ballynahatty complex
  • Irish hengiform enclosures and related monuments - a review
  • colour in prehistoric architecture
  • Hindwell and the neolithic palisaded sites of Britain and Ireland
  • timber circles at Zwolle, Netherlands
  • monuments in the landscape - thoughts from the peak. Part 2 Artefacts: breaking stones, making places - the social landscape of axe production sites
  • points of exchange - the later neolithic monuments of the Morbihan
  • radiocarbon dates for settlements, tombs and ceremonial sites with grooved ware in Scotland
  • the Welsh "jet set" in prehistory - a case of keeping up with the Joneses?
  • wood species for wooden figures - a glimpse of a pattern. Part 3 Theory and practice: Tyrebagger recumbent stone circles, Aberdeenshire - a note on recording
  • from ritual to romance - a new western
  • the time lords - ritual calendars, druids and the sacred year
  • ritual astronomy in the neolithic and Bronze Age British Isles - patterns of continuity and change
  • recording orthostatic settings
  • H.A.W. Burl - a bibliography.

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