Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe

Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe
Author: Chris Scarre
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2005-07-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1134482191

Atlantic Europe is the zone par excellence of megalithic monuments, which encompass a wide range of earthen and stone constructions from inpressive stone circles to modest chambered tombs. A single basic concept lies behind this volume - that the intrinsic qualities encountered within the diverse landscapes pf Atlantic Europe both informed the settings chosen for the monuments and played a role in determining their form and visual appearance. Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe goes significantly beyond the limits of existing debate by inviting archaeologists from different countries with the Atlantic zone (including Britain, France, Ireland, Spain and Sweden) to examine the relationship between landscape features and prehistoric monuments in their specialist regions. By placing the issue within a broader regional and intellectual context, the authors illustrate the diversity of current archaeological ideas and approaches converging around this central theme.

Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe

Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe
Author: Chris Scarre
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2005-07-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134482205

These essays examine for the first time the relationship between landscape and prehistoric monuments across Europe, placing the issue in a regional and intellectual context.

Rock Art and the Prehistory of Atlantic Europe

Rock Art and the Prehistory of Atlantic Europe
Author: Mr Richard Bradley
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2002-11-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1134708920

Along the Atlantic seaboard, from Scotland to Spain, are numerous rock carvings made four to five thousand years ago, whose interpretation poses a major challenge to the archaeologist. In the first full-length treatment of the subject, based largely on new fieldwork, Richard Bradley argues that these carvings should be interpreted as a series of symbolic messages that are shared between monuments, artefacts and natural places in the landscape. He discusses the cultural setting of the rock carvings and the ways in which they can be interpreted in relation to ancient land use, the creation of ritual monuments and the burial of the dead. Integrating this fascinating yet little-known material into the mainstream of prehistoric studies, Richard Bradley demonstrates that these carvings played a fundamental role in the organization of the prehistoric landscape.

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial
Author: Sarah Tarlow
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 921
Release: 2013-06-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0191650390

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial reviews the current state of mortuary archaeology and its practice, highlighting its often contentious place in the modern socio-politics of archaeology. It contains forty-four chapters which focus on the history of the discipline and its current scientific techniques and methods. Written by leading, international scholars in the field, it derives its examples and case studies from a wide range of time periods, such as the middle palaeolithic to the twentieth century, and geographical areas which include Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia. Combining up-to-date knowledge of relevant archaeological research with critical assessments of the theme and an evaluation of future research trajectories, it draws attention to the social, symbolic, and theoretical aspects of interpreting mortuary archaeology. The volume is well-illustrated with maps, plans, photographs, and illustrations and is ideally suited for students and researchers.

The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age

The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age
Author: Harry Fokkens
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 1012
Release: 2013-06-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199572860

The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age is a wide-ranging survey of a crucial period in prehistory during which many social, economic, and technological changes took place. Written by expert specialists in the field, the book provides coverage both of the themes that characterize the period, and of the specific developments that took place in the various countries of Europe. After an introduction and a discussion of chronology, successive chapters deal with settlement studies, burial analysis, hoards and hoarding, monumentality, rock art, cosmology, gender, and trade, as well as a series of articles on specific technologies and crafts (such as transport, metals, glass, salt, textiles, and weighing). The second half of the book covers each country in turn. From Ireland to Russia, Scandinavia to Sicily, every area is considered, and up to date information on important recent finds is discussed in detail. The book is the first to consider the whole of the European Bronze Age in both geographical and thematic terms, and will be the standard book on the subject for the foreseeable future.

Landscapes of Neolithic Brittany

Landscapes of Neolithic Brittany
Author: Chris Scarre
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2011-02-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0199281629

A fully illustrated study of the Neolithic monuments of Brittany which investigates how and by whom they were built, using the latest research and field studies. The emphasis is on the landscape setting of these monuments, and how that landscape may have influenced or inspired their construction.

The Significance of Monuments

The Significance of Monuments
Author: Richard Bradley
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1134744838

The Neolithic period, when agriculture began and many monuments - including Stonehenge - were constructed, is an era fraught with paradoxes and ambiguities. Starting in the Mesolithic and carrying his analysis through to the Late Bronze Age, Richard Bradley sheds light on this complex period and the changing consciousness of these prehistoric peoples. The Significance of Monuments studies the importance of monuments tracing their history from their first creation over six thousand years later. Part One discusses how monuments first developed and their role in developing a new sense of time and space among the inhabitants of prehistoric Europe. Other features of the prehistoric landscape - such as mounds and enclosures - across Continental Europe are also examined. Part Two studies how such monuments were modified and reinterpreted to suit the changing needs of society through a series of detailed case studies. The Significance of Monuments is an indispensable text for all students of European prehistory. It is also an enlightening read for professional archaeologists and all those interested in this fascinating period.

The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman and Medieval Europe

The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman and Medieval Europe
Author: Marta Díaz-Guardamino
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2015
Genre: History
ISBN: 0198724608

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.

Making Christian Landscapes in Atlantic Europe

Making Christian Landscapes in Atlantic Europe
Author: Tomás Ó Carragáin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Christian antiquities
ISBN: 9781782052005

Landscapes across Europe were transformed, both physically and conceptually, during the early medieval period (c AD 400-1200), and these changes were bound up with the conversion to Christianity and the development of ecclesiastical power structures. While Christianity represented a more or less common set of beliefs and ideas, early medieval societies were characterized by vibrant diversity: much can potentially be learned about these societies by comparing and contrasting how they adapted Christianity to suit local circumstances. This is the first book to adopt a comparative landscape approach to this crucial subject.

Pagan Britain

Pagan Britain
Author: Ronald Hutton
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 496
Release: 2014-05-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300198582

Britain's pagan past, with its mysterious monuments, atmospheric sites, enigmatic artifacts, bloodthirsty legends, and cryptic inscriptions, is both enthralling and perplexing to a resident of the twenty-first century. In this ambitious and thoroughly up-to-date book, Ronald Hutton reveals the long development, rapid suppression, and enduring cultural significance of paganism, from the Paleolithic Era to the coming of Christianity. He draws on an array of recently discovered evidence and shows how new findings have radically transformed understandings of belief and ritual in Britain before the arrival of organized religion. Setting forth a chronological narrative, Hutton along the way makes side visits to explore specific locations of ancient pagan activity. He includes the well-known sacred sites—Stonehenge, Avebury, Seahenge, Maiden Castle, Anglesey—as well as more obscure locations across the mainland and coastal islands. In tireless pursuit of the elusive “why” of pagan behavior, Hutton astonishes with the breadth of his understanding of Britain’s deep past and inspires with the originality of his insights.