Lands of the Shamans: Archaeology, Cosmology and Landscape, May 16, 2018
Sound is one of the lost dimensions of the prehistoric and early historic past. In recent years, ... more Sound is one of the lost dimensions of the prehistoric and early historic past. In recent years, multisensory approaches have sought new ways of addressing this defi ciency, moving beyond those developed by music archaeologists to consider not the sound producers (instruments) but the spaces in which sound and 'music' may have played a particular important role. This has included analyses of Palaeolithic painted caves and Neolithic chambered tombs and stone circles. The otherworldly signifi cance of special sounds is well attested by ethnographic studies. The transfer of such a general perspective onto mute prehistoric structures is however methodologically challenging. This chapter briefl y reviews recent work in this fi eld and argues that close attention to the archaeological evidence may sometimes be eff ective in constraining the range of possible scenarios. Whether music was used to induce altered states of consciousness or heighten awareness among participants within these ceremonial structures, however, remains open to question.
The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imp... more The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors; they are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.
The classic image of the Neolithic chambered tomb is of a stone-built-often megalithic-burial cha... more The classic image of the Neolithic chambered tomb is of a stone-built-often megalithic-burial chamber covered by a mound or cairn. Many such chambers appear today in a denuded condition, usually as a consequence of natural or human destruction. Controversy has raged since the 19th century as to whether some megalithic chambers may never have had a covering mound, and evidence from sites from Scandinavia to Spain indicates that this may occasionally have been the case. Even where remains of a mound or cairn are present, however, the chamber was often the first structure to have been built, and would for a period have been free standing. At some sites, the deposition of human bodies began at this stage. It is not impossible that the addition of a covering mound was in some cases an act of closure, marking the cessation of burial activity.
The Construction of Value in the Ancient World, 2012
The study of significant places in the prehistoric world demands careful consideration of the val... more The study of significant places in the prehistoric world demands careful consideration of the values and meanings of place among ethnographically recorded non-Western societies. These reveal how natural features such as rocks, trees, and springs may be identified with ancestral or mythological individuals or events. Some of the early farming societies of western Europe marked significant places on the landscape in permanent form through carvings on natural rock surfaces. Many of them also created artificial monuments of earth, timber, and stone. The places chosen for these monuments may have been significant locations in themselves, but in some cases the monuments also referenced significant other places through incorporating materials brought from a distance. Megalithic blocks, for example, might be dragged over distances of several miles or in the extreme case of Stonehenge over more than 200 km. Long-distance megalithic transport, though relatively rare, suggests that the places from which megalithic blocks were drawn were important in their own right. This leads us to consider the significance that natural places in the landscapes held and continued to hold both before and during the periods when such monuments were being built. An understanding of the character and appearance of the "premegalithic" landscapes, before agricultural clearance of boulders and vegetation, is essential to this inquiry. African ethnography, through concepts of "places of power" and "shrines of the land," also helps throw light on the ways in which the values and significance of places may have changed with the adoption of agriculture.
Megalithic Quarrying. Sourcing, extracting and manipulating the stones, 2009
The inherently peculiar nature of megalithic architecture arises from the employment of large sto... more The inherently peculiar nature of megalithic architecture arises from the employment of large stone slabs that were frequently unmodified and unshaped. Subsequent studies of the megalithic slabs themselves have focused mainly on their geological origin and the distances over which they were transported. The way that the slabs were extracted from their source material has been only rarely addressed, although megalithic ‘quarries’ have occasionally been identified. The deployment of glacial boulders in North European monuments is a well-known phenomenon, and even beyond the glaciated zone, extensive spreads of natural boulders may have characterised large areas of western Europe during the earlier Neolithic. Some megalithic monuments were built directly from such scattered blocks. In the majority of cases, however, the megalithic slabs that were used can be shown to have been cut away from cliffs and outcrops, exploiting natural fracture planes. Whether quarried slabs or detached boulders, what unites these sources of stone is that they were surface exposures, visible features of the early Neolithic landscape that may already have been places of special significance.
Megalithic monuments are visible and enduring marks upon the landscape. From this it follows that... more Megalithic monuments are visible and enduring marks upon the landscape. From this it follows that the archaeologist who excavates one cannot simply close the project by backfilling the trenches and returning the site to arable or pasture: the preservation and consolidation of the monument itself must be addressed. This obligation raises major ethical and practical issues, above all as to what form the preservation should take, and how far archaeologists or others are justified in intervening and modifying the extant remains. Then there is the further issue of visitor access. It is generally recognised that archaeologists have a responsibility to convey the results of their researches to the wider audience. It is, after all, on behalf of the public that most of their work is undertaken, and much of it is funded by national or local government institutions. For many kinds of site, archaeologists may discharge their public obligation by explaining (in print or in person) the importance and significance of the work that they have done. Where a visible and enduring monument is concerned, however, the responsibility extends much further, and includes arrangements for public presentation and visitor access. Presenting a site for the public might sometimes involve no more than its consolidation: making it safe for visitors, and ensuring at the same time that it is capable of withstanding the attention of adults,
This paper deals with two intersecting issues of identity: the special identity of communities li... more This paper deals with two intersecting issues of identity: the special identity of communities living on the Channel Islands off the coast of northwest France in the 5 th and 4 th millennium BC, as expressed through monuments; and the identity that seems to have been attributed to the megalithic blocks of stone themselves. Insular identity is a well-worn theme but in the case of the Channel Island monuments leads directly to questions concerning the particular character of blocks shaped or carved with human characteristics. The Câtel statue-menhir of Guernsey provides the starting point for consideration of the relationship of this unequivocally anthropomorphic representation to the disembodied female breasts found in chambered tombs of mainland France. The paper also discusses how the megalithic monuments of the Channel Islands are both comparable to yet different from those of adjacent regions, a circumstance that emphasises how these and similar island groups may have been places of encounter but also of communities expressing specific social and cultural identities. Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel beschäftigt sich mit zwei sich überschneidenden Aspekten von Identität: die spezielle Identität der Gesellschaften, die im 5. und 4. Jahrtausend v. Chr. auf den Kanalinseln nahe der französischen Küste lebten, wie sie durch Monumente ausgedrückt werden; weiterhin geht es um die Identität, die offenbar den megalithischen Einzelsteinen selbst zuerkannt wurde. Insulare Identität ist ein vielbeachtetes Thema, aber der Fall der Kanalinseln ist insofern speziell, als er direkt zur Erörterung der speziellen Eigenschaften von Steinen führt, die durch Formgebung oder Verzierung mit menschlichen Attributen versehen wurden. Der "Câtel statue"-Menhir von Guernsey ist der Ausgangspunkt für eine Diskussion des Verhältnisses dieser eindeutig anthropomorphen Darstellung zu den entkörperlosen Darstellungen weiblicher Brüste, die aus Grabanlagen des französischen Festlandes bekannt sind. Schließlich folgt eine Diskussion über die Unterschiede der Megalithen der Kanalinseln gegenüber denen der angrenzenden Regionen, um damit der Frage nachzugehen, wie diese und andere Inselgruppen als Begegnungsplätze oder als Foci spezifischer sozialer und kultureller Identität gedient haben könnten.
Provenancing antiquarian museum collections using multi-isotope analysis
Royal Society Open Science
Many of the most significant archaeological sites in Europe were excavated by antiquarians over o... more Many of the most significant archaeological sites in Europe were excavated by antiquarians over one hundred years ago. Modern museum collections therefore frequently contain human remains that were recovered during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Here we apply multi-isotope analysis ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, δ 18 O, δ 13 C, δ 15 N) and 14 C dating to evaluate the provenance of human remains within a collection that is thought to have been recovered from one of the most important archaeological sites in Britain. Excavated in 1910, the site of Coldrum in Kent is a megalithic burial monument that may be one of the earliest sites associated with the transition to farming in Britain. The interpretation of this site is therefore key to understanding how agriculture began. Using isotope analysis we show that although the human skeletal collections attributed to Coldrum do contain some of the earliest dated Neolithic human remains in Britain, they also contain the remains of individuals...
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