A striking & original interpretation of the awesome Stone Age site from one of the worlds foremost archaeologists on death & burial. Our knowledge about Stonehenge has changed dramatically as a result of the Stonehenge Riverside Project (2003-2009) led by Mike Parker Pearson & included not only Stonehenge itself but also the nearby great henge enclosure of Durrington Walls. This book is about the people who built Stonehenge & its relationship to the surrounding landscape. The book explores the theory that the people of Durrington Walls built both Stonehenge & Durrington Walls & that the choice of stone for constructing Stonehenge has a significance so far undiscovered namely that stone was used for monuments to the dead. Through years of thorough & extensive work at the site Parker Pearson & his team unearthed evidence of the Neolithic inhabitants & builders which connected the settlement at Durrington Walls with the henge & contextualised Stonehenge within the larger site complex linked by the River Avon as well as in terms of its relationship with the rest of the British Isles. Parker Pearsons book changes the way that we think about Stonehenge; correcting previously erroneous chronology & dating; filling in gaps in our knowledge about its people & how they lived; identifying a previously unknown type of Neolithic building; discovering Bluestonehenge a circle of 25 blue stones from western Wales; & confirming what started as a hypothesis
- that Stonehenge was a place of the dead
- through more than 64 cremation burials unearthed there which span the monuments use during the third millennium BC. In lively & engaging prose Parker Pearson brings to life the imposing ancient monument that continues to hold a fascination for everyone. About the Author Mike Parker Pearson is a Professor of Archaeology at Sheffield University. He is an internationally renowned expert in the archaeology of death & also specialises in the later prehistory of Britain & Northern Europe & the archaeology of Madagascar & the western Indian Ocean. He has published 14 books & over 100 academic papers. Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd Publish Date: 6 June 2013 Format: PB ROYALExtent: 416pp Illustrations:16p colour plates & B/W integrated pics