Stonehenge
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Perched on the chalk uplands of Salisbury Plain, the megaliths of Stonehenge offer one of the most recognizable outlines of any ancient structure. Its purpose—place of worship, sacrificial arena, giant calendar—is unknown, but its story is one of the most extraordinary of any of the world's prehistoric monuments. Constructed in several phases over a period of some 1500 years, beginning in 3000 BC, Stonehenge's key elements are its “bluestones,” transported from West Wales by unexplained means, and its sarsen stones quarried from the nearby Marlborough Downs. Francis Pryor delivers a rigorous account of the nature and history of Stonehenge, but also places the enigmatic monument in a wider cultural context, bringing acute insight into how antiquarians, scholars, writers, artists–and even neopagans—have interpreted the mystery over the centuries.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eminent British archaeologist Pryor (Home) examines Stonehenge, the most famous of all ancient British landmarks, in a work that balances the scholarly and the popular. For Pryor, "the great stones and the landscape around them are telling us a complex and a very human story." He works forward in time from the period immediately following the last glaciation of the land that would become the British Isles, highlighting some archeological digs that have informed current theories about the site's use. For each time period, Pryor relates how Britons of the day may have changed, used, and viewed Stonehenge (e.g., as an intertribal meeting place, for ceremonial pilgrimages into the realm of the dead); he ends with later interactions with the site, including graffiti on, artworks depicting, and recreations of the monument. Highlights include diagrams of Stonehenge that depict its elements and appearance in different time periods as well as a number of contemporary photographs and historical artworks. Readers may not agree with some of the author's speculation about various aspects of Stonehenge's history, including, for instance, the assertion that the ax carvings found on some stones represent specific individuals. Overall, this is a visually appealing and intellectually stimulating addition to the popular understanding of Stonehenge. Illus.
