Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #222293 in Books
• Published on: 1998-02-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From the Back Cover
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.

About the Author
Richard Bradley is Professor of Archaeology at Reading University. Current interests include landscape archaeology and rock art. Recent books include Altering the Earth and Rock Art and the Prehistory of Atlantic Europe. He is the general editor of the Routledge Journal World Archaeology.

Customer Reviews

Scholarly and Exciting.
I enjoyed this book very much and had difficulty putting it down.
Links were made between houses to live in and monuments, which threw light on the possible meaning and function of monuments. Evidence was drawn from archeological studies in the UK and Northern Europe spanning the period from the megalithic to the late neolithic.I would describe it as a scholarly book with a strong empirical approach. At the same time the implications drawn from the evidence are exciting so that it felt a bit like reading a detective story.
It is well written so that as a non archeologist I was able to follow it without difficutlty. At the same time it is an academic book with a lot to offer the established archeologist.

Essential reading
This book provides an excellent overview of prehistoric monuments and introduces certain key concepts which have changed the way we interpret them. It's not an 'easy' read though - very suitable for students studying archaeology at University.