Books

Books : reviews

Richard Bradley.
The Social Foundations of Prehistoric Britain.
Longman. 1984

Archaeologists have found it much easier to talk about prehistoric settlement patterns or prehistoric economics than the types of society that gave them life. Richard Bradley’s book is a timely attempt to break out of these limitations, and to explore the evidence for social organisation and social change in Britain between the introduction of farming and the Roman conquest.

The main body of the book consists of a series of chapters, chronologically arranged, each of which examines one of the main phases of British prehistory through detailed discussion of a key theme. There arc five such themes: the importance of ancestry among the earliest farmers; the production and exchange of fine artefacts before the adoption of metals; the importance of elaborate monuments and burials during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods; the use and deposition of rich metalwork; and, finally, the changing scale of political relations during the late prehistoric period. These thematic chapters are followed by a discussion which draws these separate strands together in an account of our prehistory as a whole. Throughout, Richard Bradley’s emphasis is on the development and maintenance of power. This is an important development in the study of prehistory, since modern archaeologists have been extremely wary of addressing themselves to the social implications of their data. Indeed this is one of the first books to be concerned specifically with the character of prehistoric society in Britain. Yet the issues which Mr Bradley examines systematically here are the very issues which must have mattered most to the people archaeologists are studying.

Richard Bradley.
The Significance of Monuments.
Routledge. 1998

Why were monuments built as farming began?

The Neolithic period, when agriculture began and many monuments were constructed, is an era fraught with paradoxes and ambiguities. Students of prehistory have long found the highly theoretical interpretations of the period perplexing and contradictory. Starting in the Mesolithic and carrying his analysis through to the Late Bronze Age, Richard Bradley sheds light on this complex period and the changing consciousness of the people who lived at the time.

The book studies the importance of monuments, tracing their history for nearly three millennia from their first creation over six thousand years ago. Part One discusses how monuments first developed and their role in forming a new sense of time and space among the inhabitants of prehistoric Europe. Such features of the landscape as mounds and enclosures are also examined in detail. Part Two takes the form of a series of detailed case studies to consider how monuments were modified and reinterpreted to suit the changing needs of society.

The Significance of Monuments is an indispensable text for all students of European prehistory. It is also an enlightening read for professional archaeologists and all those interested in this fascinating period.

Richard Bradley.
An Archaeology of Natural Places.
Routledge. 2000

Natural places mave an archaeology because they acquired a significance in the minds of people in the past…

In studying settlements and monuments, archaeologists have learnt a great deal about the ways in which these sites were used during prehistory. But such studies have often been limited, for their main sources of evidence were purposefully created. Little has been said about the special importance to prehistoric people of unaltered features of the landscape.

This volume explores why natural places such as caves, mountains, springs and rivers assumed a sacred character in European prehistory, and how the evidence for this can be analysed in the field. It shows how established research on votive deposits, rock art and production sites can contribute to a more imaginative approach to the prehistoric landscape, and can even shed light on the origins of monumental architecture. The discussion is illustrated through a wide range of European examples, and three extended case studies.

An Archaeology of Natural Places extends the range of landscape studies and makes the results of modern research accessible to a wider audience, including students and academics, field archaeologists, and those working in heritage management.

Richard Bradley.
Ritual and Domestic Life in Prehistoric Europe.
Routledge. 2005

Ritual is often invoked as a way of accounting for the apparently inexplicable, and is contrasted with the routines of daily life. This book contests that view.

Richard Bradley argues that for much of the prehistoric period, ritual was not a distinct sphere of activity. Rather, it was the way in which different features of the domestic world were played out with added emphasis until they took on some of the qualities of theatrical performance. Farming, craft production and the occupation of houses are all examples of this ritualising process.

Successive chapters discuss the ways in which ritual has been studied and presented, drawing on a series of examples ranging from Greece to Norway and from Romania to Portugal. They consider practices that extended from the Mesolithic period to the Early Middle Ages and offer a series of studies of the ways in which ritual and domestic life were intertwined.

Richard Bradley, Courtney Nimura.
The Use and Reuse of Stone Circles: fieldwork at five Scottish monuments and its implications.
Oxbow Books. 2016

The study of stone circles has long played a major role in British and Irish archaeology, and for Scotland most attention has been focused on the large monuments of Orkney and the Western Isles. Several decades of fieldwork have shown how these major structures are likely to be of early date and recognised that smaller settings of monoliths had a more extended history. Many of the structures in Northern Britain were reused during the later Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the early medieval period. A series of problems demand further investigation including: when were the last stone circles built? How did they differ from earlier constructions? How were they related to henge monuments, especially those of Bronze Age date? How frequently were these places reused, and did this secondary activity change the character of those sites? This major new assessment first presents the results of fieldwork undertaken at the Scottish recumbent stone circle of Hillhead; the stone circles of Waulkmill and Croftmoraig, the stone circle and henge at Hill of Tuach at Kintore; and the small ring cairn at Laikenbuie in Inverness-shire. Part 2 brings together the results of these five projects and puts forward a chronology for the construction and primary use of stone circles, particularly the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age examples. It considers the reuse of stone circles, long after they were built, and discusses four neighbouring stone circles in Aberdeenshire which display both similarities and contrasts in their architecture, use of raw materials, associated artefacts and structural sequences. Finally, a reassessment and reinterpretation of Croftmoraig and its sequence is presented: the new interpretation drawing attention to ways of thinking about these monuments which have still to fulfil their potential.

Richard Bradley.
The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland: 2nd edn.
CUP. 2019

Sited at the furthest limits of the Neolithic revolution and standing at the confluence of the two great sea routes of prehistory, Britain and Ireland are distinct from Continental Europe for much of the prehistoric sequence. In this landmark study, Richard Bradley offers an interpretation of the unique archaeological record of these islands. Highlighting the achievements of its inhabitants, Bradley surveys the entire archaeological sequence over a 5,000-year period, from the last hunter gatherers and the adoption of agriculture in the Neolithic period, to the discovery of Britain and Ireland by travellers from the Mediterranean during the later pre-Roman Iron Age. His study places special emphasis on landscapes, settlements, monuments, and ritual practices.

This edition has been thoroughly revised and updated. The text takes account of recent developments in archaeological science, such as isotopic analyses of human and animal bone, recovery of ancient DNA, and more subtle and precise methods of radiocarbon dating.

Richard Bradley.
A Comparative Study of Rock Art in Later Prehistoric Europe.
CUP. 2020

This Element summarises the state of knowledge about four styles of prehistoric rock in Europe current between the late Mesolithic period and the Iron Age. They are the Levantine, Macroschematic and Schematic traditions in the Iberian Peninsula; the Atlantic style that extended between Portugal, Spain, Britain and Ireland; Alpine rock art; and the pecked and painted images found in Fennoscandia. They are interpreted in relation to the landscapes in which they were made. A final section considers possible connections between these traditions and discusses the changing subject matter of rock art in relation to wider developments in European prehistory.

Richard Bradley.
Temporary Palaces: the Great House in European prehistory.
Oxbow Books. 2021

The Great Houses of the prehistoric and early medieval periods were enormous structures whose forms were modelled on those of domestic dwellings. Most were built of wood rather than stone; they were used over comparatively short periods; they were frequently replaced in the same positions; and some were associated with exceptional groups of artefacts. Their construction made considerable demands on human labour and approached the limits of what was possible at the time. They seem to have played specialised roles in ancient society, but they have been difficult to interpret. Were they public buildings or the dwellings of important people? Were they temples or military bases, and why were they erected during times of crisis or change? How were their sites selected, and how were they related to the remains of a more ancient past? Although their currency extended from the time of the first farmers to the Viking Age, the similarities between the Great Houses are as striking as the differences.

This study focuses on the monumental buildings of Northern and Northwestern Europe, but draws on structures over a wide area, extending from Anatolia as far as Brittany and Norway. It employs ethnography as a source of ideas and discusses the concept of the House Society and its usefulness in archaeology. The main examples are taken from the Neolithic and Iron Age periods, but this account also draws on the archaeology of the first millennium AD. The book emphasises the importance of comparing archaeological sequences with one another rather than identifying ideal social types. In doing so, it features a range of famous and less famous sites, from Stonehenge to the Hill of Tara, and from Old Uppsala to Yeavering.

Richard Bradley.
Maritime Archaeology on Dry Land: special sites along the coasts of Britain and Ireland from the first farmers to the Atlantic Bronze Age.
Oxbow Books. 2022

This book is about two islands off the coast of Continental Europe, the seas that surrounded them, and the ways in which they were used over a period of 3,000 years. Instead of the usual emphasis on finds in the intertidal zone, it focuses on parts of Britain and Ireland where traces of the prehistoric shoreline survive above sea level. It explores a series of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age sites which were investigated in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and have been largely forgotten. These places were very different from the Iron Age ports and harbours studied in recent years. How can we identify these special sites, and what are the best ways of interpreting them?

The book considers the evidence for travel by sea between the settlement of the earliest farmers and the long-distance movement of metalwork. It emphasises the distinctive archaeology of a series of coastal locations. Little of the information is familiar and some of the most useful evidence was recorded many years ago. It is supplemented by new studies of these places and the artefacts found there, as well as reconstructions of the prehistoric coastline. The book emphasises the important role of ‘enclosed estuaries’, which were both sheltered harbours and special places where artefacts were introduced by sea. Other items were made there and exchanged with local communities. It considers the role played by these places in the wider pattern of settlement and their relationship to major monuments. The book describes how the character of coastal sites changed in parallel with developments in maritime technology and trade.

The main emphasis is on Neolithic and Early Bronze Age uses of the seashore, but the archaeology of the Middle and Later Bronze Ages provides a source of comparison.

Richard Bradley.
Monumental Times: pasts, presents, and futures in the prehistoric construction projects of Northern and Western Europe.
Oxbow Books. 2024

Focusing on the archaeology of Western and Northern Europe, with an emphasis on structures in Britain and Ireland, and the period between the Mesolithic and the Viking Age, Monumental Times is concerned with the origins, uses, and subsequent histories of monument.

The book begins with two famous groups of monuments and introduces the problem of multiple time scales. It also considers how they influence the display of those sites today – they belong to both the present and the past. Monuments played a role from the moment they were created, but approaches to their archaeology led in opposite directions. They might have been directed to a future that their builders could not control. These structures could be adapted, destroyed, or left to decay once their significance was lost. Another perspective was to claim them as relics of a forgotten past. In that case they had to be reinterpreted.

The first part of this book investigates the rarity of monumental structures among hunter-gatherers, and the choice of building materials for Neolithic houses and tombs. It emphasises the difference between structures whose erection ended the use of significant places, and those whose histories could extend into the future. It also discusses ‘megalithic astronomy’ and ancient notions of time. Part Two is concerned with the reuse of ancient monuments and asks whether they really were expressions of social memory. Did links with an ‘ancestral past’ have much factual basis? It contrasts developments during the Beaker phase with those of the early medieval period. The development of monumental architecture is compared with the composition of oral literature.