bibliography& EXPLANATORY NOTES
BIBLIOGARPHY
Whilst much information has been gleaned from visiting these ancient monuments and generally picked up on over the years, for the compiling of the site notes I am specifically indebted to the following texts for reference, corroborating what knowledge and understanding we have, and frequently contradicting each other:
The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland & Brittany: A.Burl (Yale) / A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland & Brittany: A.Burl (Yale) / Prehistoric Avebury: A.Burl (Yale) / Prehistoric Henges: A.Burl (Shire) / Circles of Stone: A.Burl and M.Milligan (Harvill) / Hengeworld: M.Pitts (Century) / The Modern Antiquarian: J.Cope (Thorsons) / Discovering Prehistoric England: J.Dyer (Shire) / Bronze Age Britain: M. Parker Pearson (Batsford) / Holy Places of Celtic Britain: M.Sharp (Blandford) / Celtic Britain: H.Sykes (Cassell) / A Companion to the Folklore, Myths & Customs of Britain: M.Alexander (Sutton) / Castles and Ancient Monuments of England: D.Noonan (Aurum) / Avebury: E.Francis (Wooden Books) / Stonehenge Revealed: D.Souden (Collins and Brown) / British Archaeology (The Council for British Archaeology magazine - various issues)
TIMELINES
In 1836 a Danish curator, Christian Jurgensen Thompson, developed the basic archaeological timeline still in use today, terming the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. Subsequent experience has seen the Stone Age divided into three distinct periods: old, middle and new. Also known as the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. Furthermore, these ages have since been partitioned into old, middle and new. A rough guide looks something like this, using the Before Common Era terminology:
circa
5000BCE...Late Middle Stone Age (Late Mesolithic)
4000BCE...Early New Stone Age (Early Neolithic); First Henges, Monoliths, Long Barrows, Causewayed Enclosures
3250BCE...Middle New Stone Age (Middle Neolithic); First Stone Circles
2750BCE...Late New Stone Age (Late Neolithic)
2250BCE...Early Bronze Age; First Round Barrows
1750BCE...Middle Bronze Age
1250BCE...Late Bronze Age
750BCE.....Iron Age; First Hill Forts
0
45CE.........Roman occupation
It is worth noting that this is only a well-rounded guide. Britain and mainland Europe, from which the last land bridges vanished during the Mesolithic, were not always in sync. In fact, mainland Europe's timeline often includes a Copper Age, seldom noted in Britain, from around 4500BCE to 2000BCE, and entwined within the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages, with its Iron Age commencing around the time of Britain’s Late Bronze Age, and so on, and so on...
If anyone is aware of obvious errors in the information attached to each site, from historical and archaeological notes through to OS refs and directions, links and typos, please feel free to contact paul@mucusart.co.uk so that they may be ammended. |