Description
Book SynopsisInformed by the latest research and in-depth analysis, Prehistoric Britain provides students and scholars alike with a fascinating overview of the development of human societies in Britain from the Upper Paleolithic to the end of the Iron Age.
Trade Review"Prehistoric Britain provides a compact and generally very readable summary of the state of thought within a broad segment of the British archaeological community in the first decade of the 21st century." (Journal of Field Archaeology, 2009)
"Excellent chapters.... Needham's consideration of the exchange of objects over nine millennia to 1000 BC, informed by perspectives drawn in particular from Godelier, is a tour-de-force mixing generalization and pertinent case studies." (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, June 2009)
"What a grand surprise! Here is an important study of prehistoric Britain written in clear English!" (CHOICE, June 2009)
"Prehistoric Britain offers an excellent outline of the major themes and approaches that will, no doubt, be the main theatres of debate over the next few years.... A worthy addition to any bookshelf." (Rosetta, May 2009)
"This contains 14 excellent papers, mostly covering small-scale regional case studies from the early neolithic to the iron age.... Goldhahn's tale of barrows and the chapters on houses by Boriæ and Gerritsen are very readable." (British Archaeology, March 2009)
"This collection meets admirably the aims of the Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology series, which seeks to 'immerse readers in fundamental archaeological ideas and concepts ... thereby exposing [them] to some of the most exciting contemporary developments in the field.' ... An excellent way of taking the pulse of recent British prehistory." (Antiquity, March 2009)
Table of ContentsList of Figures vii
List of Tables x
Notes on Contributors xi
Acknowledgements xv
1 The Construction of Prehistoric Britain 1
Joshua Pollard
2 The British Upper Palaeolithic 18
Paul Pettitt
3 The Mesolithic–Neolithic Transition in Britain 58
Julian Thomas
4 Foodways and Social Ecologies from the Early Mesolithic to the Early Bronze Age 90
Rick Schulting
5 Temporary Spaces in the Mesolithic and Neolithic: Understanding Landscapes 121
Lesley McFadyen
6 The Architecture of Monuments 135
Vicki Cummings
7 Lithic Technology and the Chaîne Opératoire 160
Chantal Conneller
8 How the Dead Live: Mortuary Practices, Memory and the Ancestors in Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain and Ireland 177
Andrew Jones
9 The Development of an Agricultural Countryside 202
David Field
10 Foodways and Social Ecologies from the Middle Bronze Age to Late Iron Age 225
Jacqui Mulville
11 The Architecture of Routine Life 248
Joanna Brück
12 Later Prehistoric Landscapes and Inhabitation 268
Robert Johnston
13 Ceramic Technologies and Social Relations 288
Ann Woodward
14 Exchange, Object Biographies and the Shaping of Identities, 10,000–1000 B.C. 310
Stuart Needham
15 Identity, Community and the Person in Later Prehistory 330
Melanie Giles
Index 351
