Stonehenge--A New Understanding

March 25, 2013
A University College London archeology professor and leader of the groundbreaking Stonehenge Riverside Project expounds on recent research into the famed site in this revelatory study. The ambitious project represents the most current thinking on the construction of Stonehenge, its relation to surrounding Neolithic sites, and its possible purpose. As Pearson (If Stones Could Speak) writes in the introduction, “in archaeology, context is everything.” As such, he and his team took as their working hypothesis the idea that Stonehenge could only be understood in the context of other proximal sites, particularly Durrington Walls. The spark for the idea came from a Malagasy colleague, Ramilisonina, who suggested that, as in Madagascar, perhaps the timber circles of Durrington were indicative of a monument to the living, and the stones of Stonehenge to the dead. In his recounting of seven seasons of archaeological digs at Stonehenge, Durrington, and other sites in the area, Pearson addresses everything from the bureaucracy of archaeological permissions to whether the druids, either prehistoric or modern, are relevant to an understanding of Stonehenge. This detailed work may challenge casual readers, but it will prove immensely rewarding to any student of the subject. 16-page color insert, b&w photos throughout. Agent: Bill Hamilton, A.M. Heath & Co. (U.K.).

May 1, 2013

Stonehenge has piqued the interest of the public and of professional archaeologists for centuries, but no comprehensive archaeological study was made until the 2000s. Now Pearson (archaeology, Sheffield Univ., UK; The Archaeology of Death and Burial), who led the 2003-09 Stonehenge Riverside Project, details the discoveries made by his team over seven field seasons. The team examined not just Stonehenge but the landscape of which it is a part to put other sites in context with it. The detailed chapters cover background on previous archaeological digs in the area, burial practices, DNA analysis of area people, the role of the River Avon in the movement of site objects, and substantive information on the sourcing of the massive rocks that the Stonehenge structure comprises. The author found inter alia that Stonehenge was a place for interring cremated remains, while an adjacent site--Durrington Walls--was constructed of wood and was used for the living (indicated by the presence of food remains). The team also discovered that burial practices changed over the years, which may indicate an alteration in attendant religious beliefs. VERDICT A solid, comprehensive introduction to this important World Heritage Site, showing how an immense archaeological project is conducted from beginning to conclusion. Recommended to all interested readers.--Brian Renvall, Mesalands Comm. Coll., Tucumcari, NM

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Starred review from April 15, 2013
Renowned archaeologist Pearson (Archaeology/University College London; From Machair to Mountains, 2012, etc.) presents the findings of the most ambitious and scientifically informed investigation of Stonehenge thus far. Majestic, enigmatic and captivating, the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge is a mystery archaeologists have been struggling to solve for more than 300 years. Here, the author unveils the critical new discoveries made during the massive investigation he oversaw from 2003 to 2009: the Stonehenge Riverside Project. Forty-five excavations within the 6,500-acre Stonehenge World Heritage site revealed Stonehenge to be not just a monument that exists in isolation, but one of many monuments constructed within an ancient sacred landscape. From a massive Neolithic avenue connecting the neighboring wood henge Durrington Walls to the River Avon, to the discovery of 63 ancient cremation burials at Stonehenge, Pearson presents new evidence that indisputably links Stonehenge to a network of similar cremation monuments and ancient cemeteries across greater Britain. The project has also provided a tantalizing glimpse into the lives and minds of Britain's prehistoric people. Lipid analysis of animal bones discovered at Durrington indicates that feasting took place there on a grand scale during midsummer and midwinter. Along with animal bones in large quantities, an entire Neolithic settlement was unearthed there as well, proving that while Stonehenge was a place that honored the dead, Durrington was a place of celebration for the living. Filled with maps, drawings, photographs and diagrams, the book details the group's findings in a well-organized, absorbing manner. While the tone is decidedly academic, Pearson's style is accessible enough--and the information discussed provocative enough--to make this book required reading for serious Anglophiles, students of archaeology and anthropologists alike. The most authoritative, important book on Stonehenge to date.

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April 15, 2013
With unprecedented access to the World Historical Site's 26.6 square kilometers, the Stonehenge Riverside Project, which Parker Pearson headed (20032009), opened 45 archaeological excavations and used technologies like carbon dating, thermal imaging, DNA analysis, and GPS to produce breakthroughs in our understanding of the monolithic circle that attracts nearly a million tourists a year. The project's signal accomplishment may be defining context. It positions Stonehenge as part of a complex of Neolithic sites that served quite different purposes and establishes with greater precision a widely (if not universally) accepted time line of five construction stages (30001520 BC). A place for honoring the dead, Stonehenge may also, the book suggests, have been a monument of unification, a place where natives and immigrants from Wales and Europe came together as one community. Stonehenge grew less important to the people of the Salisbury Plain, Parker Pearson suggests, because labouring for the ancestors gave way to labouring for the living; and monuments, like Stonehenge, honoring the deaths of the community's elite were replaced by round barrows where a family could honor its own deceased.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)