The Stonehenge people : an exploration of life in Neolithic Britain, 4700-2000 BC

Looking beyond the origins of Stonehenge to the origins of the culture that produced it, Rodney Castleden debunks many of the popular myths surrounding the monument and its builders. Castleden shows, for example, that Stonehenge was not built by the Druids, nor was its Heel Stone used to mark the position of the midsummer sunrise. Castleden examines the Stonehenge people's material culture as well as their social, political and religious structures to present a convincing interpretation of Stonehenge's cultural context and symbolic meaning. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS......Page 9 FOREWORD BY SIR MICHAEL TIPPETT......Page 12 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 14 THE MYSTERIOUS MONUMENT......Page 18 HERE IN THIS MAGIC WOOD......Page 28 HEARTH AND HOME......Page 47 THE BROKEN CIRCLE......Page 60 OF THE EFFECTE OF CERTAINE STONES......Page 82 CLAY CIRCLES: THE FIRST POTTERY......Page 95 BY WHAT MECHANICAL CRAFT......Page 104 BY THE DEVIL'S FORCE......Page 128 EARTH CIRCLES AND EARTH LINES: THE RITUAL FUNCTION......Page 142 THE OLD TEMPLES OF THE GODS......Page 153 DIALOGUE WITH DEATH......Page 172 THE LAUGHING CHILDREN......Page 208 THE PEACEFUL CITADEL......Page 219 THE GREAT MYSTERY......Page 236 THE SPEAKING STONES......Page 258 CHILDHOOD'S END......Page 272 APPENDIX: CONVERSION TABLES FOR RADIOCARBON DATES......Page 281 REFERENCES......Page 284 INDEX......Page 290 First published in 1990. Of all the monuments left by the past, Stonehenge is the most evocative, the most memorable and the most mysterious. Whilst the monuments of other cultures have gradually surrendered their mysteries, Stonehenge alone seems to stimulate endless conjecture. Rodney Castleden's vivid presentation of the world of the megaliths answers many of the most baffling questions about Stonehenge. There are, he stresses, few absolute certainties, but from the vast body of evidence assembled during the last hundred years it is now possible to get much closer to the truth than ever before. Who built the monuments and for what purpose? How were the bluestones moved from the sacred mountains of the west to Salisbury Plain? Who were the people responsible for this amazing undertaking, and what did they think and believe? Of all the monuments left by the past, Stonehenge is the most evocative, the most memorable and the most mysterious. Whilst the monuments of other cultures have gradually surrendered their mysteries, Stonehenge alone seems to stimulate endless conjecture. Castledan presents the findings of modern archaeology in a language and style easily accessible to the non-specialist, and writes from detailed and personal knowledge of the most recent research in the field. Sane, confident and readable, his account gives us new insights into a brilliant phase of achievement in Britain's prehistory, as well as coherent and convincing interpretation of Stonehenge's cultural context, history, purpose and symbolic meaning Arts, Language and Literature Book Cover 1 Title 4 Contents 5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 9 FOREWORD BY SIR MICHAEL TIPPETT 12 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 14 THE MYSTERIOUS MONUMENT 18 HERE IN THIS MAGIC WOOD 28 HEARTH AND HOME 47 THE BROKEN CIRCLE 60 OF THE EFFECTE OF CERTAINE STONES 82 CLAY CIRCLES: THE FIRST POTTERY 95 BY WHAT MECHANICAL CRAFT 104 BY THE DEVIL'S FORCE 128 EARTH CIRCLES AND EARTH LINES: THE RITUAL FUNCTION 142 THE OLD TEMPLES OF THE GODS 153 DIALOGUE WITH DEATH 172 THE LAUGHING CHILDREN 208 THE PEACEFUL CITADEL 219 THE GREAT MYSTERY 236 THE SPEAKING STONES 258 CHILDHOOD'S END 272 APPENDIX: CONVERSION TABLES FOR RADIOCARBON DATES 281 REFERENCES 284 INDEX 290 Of those great and ancient mysteries that lie at the foundation of the British consciousness, Stonehenge is the greatest, most ancient and most mysterious, a kind of omphalos or earth-navel.

Rodney Castleden presents an illuminating and convincing interpretation of Stonhenge's cultural context and historical meaning.