Stone Circles
A Field Guide
Published on 10. September 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
520 pages
978-0-300-23598-2 (ISBN)
Description
The definitive guide to the stone circles of Britain and Ireland
From Stonehenge and the Ring of Brogdar to the Rollright Stones and Avebury, the British and Irish Isles are scattered with the stone circles of our prehistoric ancestors. Although there have been many theories to explain them, to this day there is no consensus about their purpose.
Colin Richards and Vicki Cummings provide a clear and illuminating field guide to 424 key stone circle sites in Britain and Ireland. Organised by region, this handy volume sets out the features of these megalithic monuments, including their landscape position, construction, and physical properties. The authors take stock of cutting-edge research and recent excavations stone circles that were previously lost to time. They present new insights on the chronology, composition, and roles of different circles to transform our understanding the sites.
Beautifully illustrated with photographs, maps, and plans, this is an essential guide to Britain and Ireland's most mysterious prehistoric monuments.
From Stonehenge and the Ring of Brogdar to the Rollright Stones and Avebury, the British and Irish Isles are scattered with the stone circles of our prehistoric ancestors. Although there have been many theories to explain them, to this day there is no consensus about their purpose.
Colin Richards and Vicki Cummings provide a clear and illuminating field guide to 424 key stone circle sites in Britain and Ireland. Organised by region, this handy volume sets out the features of these megalithic monuments, including their landscape position, construction, and physical properties. The authors take stock of cutting-edge research and recent excavations stone circles that were previously lost to time. They present new insights on the chronology, composition, and roles of different circles to transform our understanding the sites.
Beautifully illustrated with photographs, maps, and plans, this is an essential guide to Britain and Ireland's most mysterious prehistoric monuments.
Reviews / Votes
Included in Current Archaeology's Books of the Year, 2024"The authors are, at heart, enthusiasts ('this site is a real gem') and their handsome book will encourage the same in anyone they persuade to go stone-circle bagging."-Michael Prodger, New Statesman
"Essential reading for anyone with an interest in the subject."-Jack Watkins, Country Life
"Required enormous dedication, care, and love to research and write, and so [is] vastly enriching."-Rob Ixer, Current Archaeology
"Richards and Cummings urge their readers to be thorough when visiting a circle, to consider the views from it and through it, to walk across as well as around it, to make notes and take measurements and consider the inter-visibility of sites."-Rosemary Hill, London Review of Books
"The authors present new insights on the chronology, composition, and roles of different circles to transform our understanding the sites."-The Orcadian
"Written with style and containing a wealth of expert knowledge, Colin Richards and Vicki Cummings offer the essential field guide to the stone circles of Britain and Ireland. The Stone Circles provides a thoroughly up-to-date and beautifully illustrated account of key sites."-Joshua Pollard, author of Avebury
"The indispensable new guide to stone circles in Britain and Ireland by two leading prehistorians: packed with up-to-date interpretation and information including instructions on how to find even the most remote sites, sensitive to the beauties of landscapes and settings, and good for armchair browsing as well."-Alasdair Whittle, author of The Times of Their Lives
"Meticulously researched and richly detailed, this is a welcome new guide to the stone circles of Great Britain and Ireland. Including up-to-date information, and the opportunity for the reader to engage in their own stone circle research, this is accessible, inclusive and engaging, and a must have for any stone lovers bookshelf."-Katy Soar, editor of Circles of Stone
"This attractive and colourfully illustrated book is what we have been waiting for. It is both an accessible field guide and an excellent state-of-the-art overview of our understanding of these most enigmatic prehistoric monuments. It will have a place on the bookshelves of experts and enthusiasts alike."-Mike Parker Pearson, author of Stonehenge
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
147 color illus. + 8 maps
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 177 mm
Thickness: 38 mm
Weight
1165 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-300-23598-2 (9780300235982)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Colin Richards is professor of archaeology at the University of the Highlands and Islands and author of numerous books, including Building the Great Stone Circles of the North. Vicki Cummings is professor of Neolithic archaeology at the University of Cardiff and is the author of several works, including The Neolithic of Britain and Ireland. This is the authors' second cowritten book, after Monuments in the Making.