The Megalithic Architectures of Europe

The Megalithic Architectures of Europe
Title The Megalithic Architectures of Europe PDF eBook
Author Luc Laporte
Publisher Oxbow Books
Pages 544
Release 2015-12-31
Genre Social Science
ISBN 1785700154

Download The Megalithic Architectures of Europe Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Megalithic monuments are among the most striking remains of the Neolithic period of northern and western Europe and are scattered across landscapes from Pomerania to Portugal. Antiquarians and archaeologists early recognized the family resemblance of the different groups of tombs, attributing them to maritime peoples moving along the western seaways. More recent research sees them rather as the product of established early farming communities in their individual regions. Yet the diversity of the tombs, their chronologies and their varied cultural contexts complicates any straightforward understanding of their origins and distribution. Megalithic Architectures provides new insight by focusing on the construction and design of European megalithic tombs – on the tomb as an architectural project. It shows how much is to be learned from detailed attention to the stages and the techniques through which tombs were built, modified and enlarged, and often intentionally dismantled or decommissioned. The large slabs that were employed, often unshaped, may suggest an opportunistic approach by the Neolithic builders, but this was clearly far from the case. Each building project was unique, and detailed study of individual sites exposes the way in which tombs were built as architectural, social and symbolic undertakings. Alongside the manner in which the materials were used, it reveals a store of knowledge that sometimes differed considerably from one structure to another, even between contemporary monuments within a single region. The volume brings together regional specialists from Scandinavia, Germany, Britain, France, Belgium and Iberia to offer a series of uniquely authoritative studies. Results of recent fieldwork are fully incorporated and much of the material is published here for the first time in English. It provides an invaluable overview of the current state of research on European megalithic tombs.

The Megalithic Architectures of Europe

The Megalithic Architectures of Europe
Title The Megalithic Architectures of Europe PDF eBook
Author Luc Laporte
Publisher Oxbow Books Limited
Pages 248
Release 2022-06-15
Genre Architecture
ISBN 9781789258097

Download The Megalithic Architectures of Europe Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

First major synthesis by leading regional specialists in English of recent excavation results and new approaches to the study of megalithic monuments and their individual histories across Europe.

The Megaliths of Northern Europe

The Megaliths of Northern Europe
Title The Megaliths of Northern Europe PDF eBook
Author Magdalena Midgley
Publisher Routledge
Pages 240
Release 2008-07
Genre History
ISBN 113426450X

Download The Megaliths of Northern Europe Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The North European megaliths are among the most enduring structures built in prehistory; they are imbued with symbolic meanings which embody physical and conceptual ideas about the nature of the world inhabited by the first Northern farmers. The Megaliths of Northern Europe provides a much needed up-to-date synthesis of the material available on these monuments, incorporating the results of recent research in Holland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. This research has brought to light new data on the construction of the megaliths and their role in the cultural landscape, and Magdalena Midgley offers a fascinating interpretation of the symbolism of megalithic tombs within the context of early farming communities. This wealth of new evidence suggests the Northern European megaliths were important foci in the wider north-west European context. The construction of dolmens and passage graves, using huge glacial boulders, demanded both great communal effort and considerable skill. In addition to this technical expertise the master builders also made use of their esoteric knowledge of rituals. This was expressed in the use of exotic building materials and special architectural features, and in the placement of tombs within the natural and cultural landscapes, creating new metaphors and images. Fully illustrated, this book will be of interest to both undergraduate and postgraduate students of European Prehistory, Archaeology and Prehistoric Anthropology, as well as architects who study ancient architecture and social anthropologists who study modern megaliths.

The Megalithic Architectures of Europe

The Megalithic Architectures of Europe
Title The Megalithic Architectures of Europe PDF eBook
Author Luc Laporte
Publisher
Pages 452
Release 2015-11-01
Genre Antiquities, Prehistoric
ISBN 9781785700163

Download The Megalithic Architectures of Europe Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

First major synthesis by leading regional specialists in English of recent excavation results and new approaches to the study of megalithic monuments and their individual histories across Europe.

Monuments in the Making

Monuments in the Making
Title Monuments in the Making PDF eBook
Author Vicki Cummings
Publisher Windgather Press
Pages 320
Release 2021-11-30
Genre History
ISBN 1911188461

Download Monuments in the Making Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Dolmens are iconic international monumental constructions which represent the first megalithic architecture (after menhirs) in north-west Europe. These monuments are characterised by an enormous capstone balanced on top of smaller uprights. However, previous investigations of these extraordinary monuments have focussed on three main areas of debate. First, typology has been a dominant feature of discussion, particularly the position of dolmens in the ordering of chambered tombs. Second, attention has been placed not on how they were built but how they were used. Finally much debate has centred on their visual appearance (whether they were covered by mounds or cairns). This book provides a reappraisal of the ‘dolmen’ as an architectural entity and provides an alternative perspective on function. This is achieved through a re-theorising of the nature of megalithic architecture grounded in the results of a new research/fieldwork project covering Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia. It is argued that instead of understanding dolmen simply as chambered tombs these were multi-faceted monuments whose construction was as much to do with enchantment and captivation as it was with containing the dead. Consequently, the presence of human remains within dolmens is also critically evaluated and a new interpretation offered.

Time and Stone: The Emergence and Development of Megaliths and Megalithic Societies in Europe

Time and Stone: The Emergence and Development of Megaliths and Megalithic Societies in Europe
Title Time and Stone: The Emergence and Development of Megaliths and Megalithic Societies in Europe PDF eBook
Author Bettina Schulz Paulsson
Publisher Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Pages 392
Release 2017-09-15
Genre Social Science
ISBN 1784916862

Download Time and Stone: The Emergence and Development of Megaliths and Megalithic Societies in Europe Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This analysis is concerned with the dating of megaliths in Europe and is based on 2410 available radiocarbon results and the application of a Bayesian statistical framework. It is, so far, the largest existing attempt to establish a supra-regional synthesis on the emergence and development of megaliths in Europe.

The Megaliths of Northern Europe

The Megaliths of Northern Europe
Title The Megaliths of Northern Europe PDF eBook
Author Magdalena Midgley
Publisher Routledge
Pages 316
Release 2008-07-01
Genre Social Science
ISBN 1134264496

Download The Megaliths of Northern Europe Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The North European megaliths are among the most enduring structures built in prehistory; they are imbued with symbolic meanings which embody physical and conceptual ideas about the nature of the world inhabited by the first Northern farmers. The Megaliths of Northern Europe provides a much needed up-to-date synthesis of the material available on these monuments, incorporating the results of recent research in Holland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. This research has brought to light new data on the construction of the megaliths and their role in the cultural landscape, and Magdalena Midgley offers a fascinating interpretation of the symbolism of megalithic tombs within the context of early farming communities. This wealth of new evidence suggests the Northern European megaliths were important foci in the wider north-west European context. The construction of dolmens and passage graves, using huge glacial boulders, demanded both great communal effort and considerable skill. In addition to this technical expertise the master builders also made use of their esoteric knowledge of rituals. This was expressed in the use of exotic building materials and special architectural features, and in the placement of tombs within the natural and cultural landscapes, creating new metaphors and images. Fully illustrated, this book will be of interest to both undergraduate and postgraduate students of European Prehistory, Archaeology and Prehistoric Anthropology, as well as architects who study ancient architecture and social anthropologists who study modern megaliths.