The pagan religions of the ancient British Isles : their nature and legacy

This is the first survey of religious beliefs in the British Isles from the Old Stone Age to the coming of Christianity, one of the least familiar periods in Britain's history. Ronald Hutton draws upon a wealth of new data, much of it archaeological, that has transformed interpretation over the past decade. Giving more or less equal weight to all periods, from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages, he examines a fascinating range of evidence for Celtic and Romano-British paganism, from burial sites, cairns, megaliths and causeways, to carvings, figurines, jewellery, weapons, votive objects, literary texts and folklore. Library Journal Hutton (British history, Bristol Univ.) offers an excellent, up-to-date compendium on British pagan religions based primarily upon recent archaeological findings. Various pre-Christian religions in the British Isles throughout history are discussed beginning as far back as 30,000 B.C., when carvings on portable objects first seem to have appeared. Hutton continues coverage through the Roman influence and the eventual advance of Christianity, which coincided with the disappearance of the pagan religions from the British Isles. He closes with a discussion of the remaining influences and traces of the early pagan religions. Hutton has contributed a well-documented resource which has popular interest. Recommended for most libraries.-- Paula I. Nielson, Loyola Mary mount Univ. Lib., Los Angeles "This is the first survey of religious beliefs in the British Isles, from the Old Stone Age to the coming of Christianity, one of the least familiar but most extensive periods in Britain's history. Ronald Hutton draws upon a wealth of new data, much of it archaeological, that has transformed interpretation over the past decade. Giving more or less equal weight to all periods, from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages, he considers a fascinating range of evidence for Celtic and Romano-British paganism: from burial sites, cairns, megaliths and causeways, to carvings, figurines, jewellery, weapons, votive objects, literary texts and folklore." -- Back Cover COVER CONTENTS PREFACE PREFACE TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS GUIDE TO PRONOUNCIATION OF CELTIC WORDS IN THE TEXT The Mysteries Begin (c.30,000—c.5000 BC) The Time of the Tombs (c.5000—c.3200 BC) The Coming of the Circles (c.3200-c.2200 BC) Into the Darkness (c.2200—c.1000 BC) The People of the Mist (c.1000 BC—c.AD 500) The Imperial Synthesis (AD 43—410) The Clash of Faiths (AD c.300—c.1000) Legacy of Shadows NOTES ADDITIONAL SOURCE MATERIAL INDEX COVER This is the first survey of religious beliefs in the British Isles from the Stone Age to the coming of Christianity. Hutton draws upon a wealth of new data to reveal some important rethinking about Christianization and the decline of paganism. The human record in the British Isles goes back a very long way beyond the beginning of the islands themselves.