Atlantic Europe is the zone par excellence of megalithic monuments, which encompass a wide range of earthern and stone constructions from impressive stone circles to modest chambered tombs. A single basic concept lies behind this volume - that the intrinsic qualities encountered within the diverse landscapes of Atlantic Europe both informed the settings chosen for the monuments and and played a role in determining their form and visual appearance. This, in part, derives from the use of local materials and the manner in which they were displayed within the monuments: for example, how stone, clearly taken from the local geology, was visibly incorporated. Yet we may go further than this in some instances and propose that the 1ature of local land-forms itself both atracted monuments, providing meaningful or dramatic settings, and offered a series of ideas which played some part in influencing the form of these monuments. Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe goes significantly beyond the limits of existing debate by inviting archaeologists from different countries within the Atlantic zone to examine the relationship between landscape features and prehistoric monuments in their specialist regions. By placing the issue within a broader regional and intellectual context the authors illustrate the diversity of current archaeological ideas and approaches converging around this central theme. The regions represented include Britain, France, Ireland, Iberia and Scandinavia. The result constitutes a remarkable testament to the convergence of conceptual approaches to prehistoric monuments
in the diverse landscapes and diverse intellectual traditions of Atlantic Europe.
Edited by:
Chris Scarre
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 16mm
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9780415273138
ISBN 10: 0415273137
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 25 April 2002
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
,
Primary
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface. Introduction: Situating Monuments: the Dialogue between Built Form and Landform in Atlantic Europe Chris Scarre Part I: Atlantic Iberia: 1. Standing Stones and Natural Outcrops: the Role of Ritual Monuments in the Neolithic Tansition of the Central Alentejo Manuel Calado 2. Castanheiro do Vento and the Significance of Monumental Copper Age Sites in Northern Portugal Vítor Oliveira Jorge, Jaão Muralha Cardoso, António Sá Coixão & Leonor Sousa Pereira 3. The Architecture of the Natural World: Rock Art in North-West Iberia Lara Bacelar Alves Part II: Atlantic France 3. The Perception of Space and Geometry: Megalithic Monuments of West-Central France in their Relationship to the Landscape Luc Laporte, Roger Joussame & Chris Scare 4. Coast and Cosmos: the Neolithic Monuments of Northern Brittany Chris Scarre Part III: Britain and Ireland 5. All Cultural Things: Actual and Conceptual Monuments in the Neolithic of Western Britain Vicki Cummings 6. The Land, the Sky and the Scottish Stone Circle Richard Bradley 7. Knocknarea: the Ultimate Monument. Megaliths and Mountains in Neiolithic Cúil Irra, North West Ireland Stefan Bergh 7. Megaliths in a Mythologised Landscape: South-west Ireland in the Iron Age William O'Brien Part IV: Scandinavia 8. Visible Intentions? Viewshed Analysis of Bronze Age Burial Mounds in Western Scania, Sweden Karin Ericson Lageras 9. Conclusion: Long Conversations Concerning Time, Descent and Place in the World
Chris Scarre is deputy director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge and specialises in the prehistory of Europe and the Mediterranean.
