Medieval boundaries, early Christian monuments or merely stones for cattle to scratch their backs on? This review and collection of new evidence suggests that the overwhelming number of those that have a prehistoric context are in places which have a ritual significance.

This ebook covers the Neolithic and Bronze Age remains of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Dorset. If you’re looking to visit as many iconic megalithic sites in as short a time as possible, then West Penwith, at the very tip of Cornwall, should be high on your list, with its famous holed stone at Mên-an-Tol, the leaning pillar inside the circle of Boscawen-ûn, and much else. But there are many other treasures to find throughout the region. Dartmoor is famous for its stone rows (around 86 of these have been identified), and Exmoor for the challenge of its hard-to-spot “minilithic” settings. Britain’s second-largest stone circle is at Stanton Drew in Somerset, while the 10km (6 mile) long Dorest Cursus is probably Britain’s largest Neolithic site. If you’re visiting Gloucestershire, you may also want to download The Old Stones of Wales ebook as the sites here are very close to South Wales. The Old Stones of the West of England is part of a series covering the megalithic and other prehistoric sites of Britain and Ireland. The series is published together as The Old Stones: A Field Guide to the Megalithic Sites of Britain and Ireland, available as a book and an ebook.

Wales is essentially an upland country where mountains and moorlands are the dominant components of the rural scene. The form and character of these landscapes are the consequence of a long history of change. Their distinctiveness is the result of complex interaction between the natural environment and human intervention. Based on the results of an archaeological field survey, this book attempts to unravel the many strands in the evolution of one particular upland area of South Wales, Mynydd Du and Fforest Fawr, part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The history of human activity in this area can be traced back to the earliest stages of climatic warming after the end of the last Ice Age when Mesolithic hunters followed migrating herds onto the less densely wooded high ground. Seasonal visiting was continued by early farmers until, from the beginning of the Bronze Age, more intensive patterns of land use emerged. After the end of the Roman military presence evidence for mainly seasonal occupation once again becomes widespread, during the Medieval and Post-Medieval periods. This was followed by the intensive exploitation of the area's mineral wealth during the Industrial Revolution and after, giving rise to some of the most dramatic features of the present-day landscape.

This book discusses the lines of standing stones that until now have been the neglected wonders of prehistoric Europe, rows that were foci of rituals in Britain, Ireland and Brittany for over two thousand years. Places such as Carnac in Brittany and Callanish in the Hebrides are visited by many visitors each year, but before now there has been no book that seriously explains the history, significance and background to these impressive sites. Aubrey Burl shows that the settings vary from pairs of isolated stones in the far south-west of Ireland to networks of long lines in Scotland, Dartmoor and Brittany, and describes the types in a sequence of architectural chapters that stress the increasing social and commercial connections between regions hundred of miles apart. He uses information from a wide variety of sources - excavation reports, megalithic art, astronomical analyses and legends - to provide explanations of why the rows were erected, when, and what they may have been used for.

There are many hundreds of fascinating prehistoric sites in Wales, in some of the most beautiful locations in Britain, from mountaintop settings, such as at Bryn Cader Faner, to headlands with all-round sea views, as at Coetan Arthur, or on truly remote moorland, as at Bannau Sir Gaer. The road links between North and South Wales are not that great, so it's probably best to choose one or the other as a destination unless you are up for a lot of motoring. In North Wales, Anglesey has a particularly dense concentration of megalithic sites, with many in Gwynedd and Conwy to visit on the way. South Wales stretches from Monmouthshire to Pembrokeshire, where there is the biggest and best variety of sites, including the iconic Pentre Ifan with its capstone apparently delicately floating over its three massive uprights. The Old Stones of Wales is part of a series covering the megalithic and other prehistoric sites of Britain and Ireland. The series is published together as The Old Stones: A Field Guide to the Megalithic Sites of Britain and Ireland, available as a book and an ebook.

Prehistoric Britain, now in its second edition, examines the development of human societies in Britain from earliest times to the Roman conquest of AD 43, as revealed by archaeological evidence. Special attention is given to six themes which are traced through prehistory: subsistence, technology, ritual, trade, society, and population.

Anthropomorphism could be described as a production of analogies generated by human cognition. It is present in the imaginary, mythologies, religions, and material culture of all ages. This book approaches anthropomorphism from the moment of anthropogenesis, tracing its presence in nature and material culture in prehistory and Antiquity.