Product Description

Some time 6,000 years ago, the members of a now long-forgotten tribe dragged and lifted carefully chosen stones into place and built Ireland's first Temple of Stone. Over the next 2,000 years, hundreds more megalithic tombs were built across the country and then, around 2000 BC, the building stopped and the knowledge of what these remarkable stone structures meant to their builders was lost. After 4,000 years of silence, however, the stones are no longer mute. Every year, archaeologists discover more about these enigmatic monuments and instead of a single, simple answer to the question of what the megalithic tombs meant to those who built them, there is a multitude of answers, each one more intriguing that the next. As the Office of Public Works celebrates 40 years of the winter solstice at Newgrange and we enter Samhain, the Celtic New Year, Carleton Jones brings together the interpretations surrounding our megalithic tombs in a fully-illustrated popular format, shedding light on our ancestors belief systems and rituals and their deliberate manipulations of the world around them, often with drug-induced hallucinations. All key sites in Ireland are discussed with 100 Sites Worth Visiting listed in a final chapter with photos, maps and detailed directions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #135955 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 346 pages

Review
'Written with the layman in mind without forgetting that the serious-minded also need their diagrams fully notated' Sunday Tribune 'Written in a clear and lucid style but is also filled with interesting details concerning a broad range of topics and ideas' Irish Arts Review 'Accessible text is enriched by superb photos' British Archaeology

About the Author
Dr Carleton Jones lectures in archaeology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Author of The Burren and the Aran Islands - Exploring the Archaeology, his work is widely published.

Customer Reviews

A must have book for anyone interesting in the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland
Excellent reference book on the significant Megalithic sites of Ireland. Carleton Jones has distilled the knowledge of all the relevant previous publications and combined it with his own research and photographs to create a must have book for anyone interesting in the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. It is three books in one, anyone of which could have been issued in its own right. 1) Background to the Megalith Builders 2) In Depth studies of the many Megalithic Sites 3) A field guide including maps. The bibliography lists about 140 books, a testament to the depth of research. Dr. Carleton Jones lectures in archaeology at the National University of Ireland in Galway, so knows his stuff, however the book is easy to read and attractively laid out with many excellent photographs.

A First Class Book
One of the best archaeological books I have ever read!! The site descriptions and explanations are excellent and are accompanied by lots of colour photos and diagrams. I visited many of these sites last year and very much enjoyed reading this book subsequently. It is both a great reference book and a lovely souvenir. Very readable and suitable for both the general reader and the enthusiast.