Building the great stone circles of the north / edited by Colin Richards.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Richards, Colin, 1953- editor.

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stone circles--Great Britain.

Stone circles.

Great Britain--Antiquities.

Great Britain.

Antiquities.

Physical Description:

xix, 322 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Windgather Press, 2013.

Summary:

Of all prehistoric monuments, few are more emotive than the great stone circles that were built throughout Britain and Ireland. From the tall, elegant, pointed monoliths of the Stones of Stenness to the grandeur of Stonehenge and the sarsen blocks at Avebury, circles of stone exert a magnetic fascination to those who venture into their sphere. In Britain today, more people visit these structures than any other form of prehistoric monument and visitors stand in awe at their scale and question how and why they were erected. Building the Great Stone Circles of the North looks at the enigmatic stone structures of Scotland and investigates the background of their construction and their cultural significance. Beginning with a consideration of how the stone structure of Western Scotland can be interpreted, the volume looks in detail at the context of the circles and cairns from Orkney and the Outer Hebrides - from quarrying the raw material to their symbolic role within the landscape - before widening out into a consideration of the societies who built and used them and the myth and folklore that is now embedded within these megaliths. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 Building the great stone circles of the North

1 Interpreting Stone Circles / Colin Richards Richards, Colin 2

2 Monuments in the Making: the stone circles of Western Scotland / Colin Richards Richards, Colin, Joanna Wright Wright, Joanna 31

Part 2 Stone circles in Orkney

3 Wrapping the Hearth: constructing house societies and the tall Stones of Stenness, Orkney / Colin Richards Richards, Colin 64

4 Investigating the Great Ring of Brodgar, Orkney / Jane Downes Downes, Jane, Colin Richards Richards, Colin, John Brown Brown, John, A. J. Cresswell Cresswell, A. J., R. Ellen Ellen, R., A. D. Davies Davies, A. D., Allan Hall Hall, Allan, Robert McCulloch McCulloch, Robert, David C. W. Sanderson Sanderson, David C. W., Ian A. Simpson Simpson, Ian A. 90

5 Monumental Risk: megalithic quarrying at Staneyhill and Vestra Fiold, Mainland, Orkney / Colin Richards Richards, Colin, John Brown Brown, John, Sian Jones Jones, Sian, Allan Hall Hall, Allan, Tom Muir Muir, Tom 119

6 Surface over Substance: the Vestra Fiold horned cairn, Mainland, Setter cairn, Eday, and a reappraisal of late Neolithic funerary architecture / Colin Richards Richards, Colin, Jane Downes Downes, Jane, Ellen Hambleton Hambleton, Ellen, Rick Perterson Perterson, Rick, Joshua Pollard Pollard, Joshua 149

Part 3 Stone circles in the Outer Hebrides

7 The Peristalich and the Context of Calanais: transformational architecture in the Hebridean early Neolithic / Vicki Cummings Cummings, Vicki, Colin Richards Richards, Colin 186

8 Erecting Stone Circles in a Hebridean Landscape / Colin Richards Richards, Colin, Adrian Challands Challands, Adrian, Kate Welham Welham, Kate 201

9 Expedient Monumentality: Na Dromannan and the high stone circles of Calanais, Lewis / Colin Richards Richards, Colin, George Demetri Demetri, George, Charles French French, Charles, Robert Nunn Nunn, Robert, Rebecca Rennell Rennell, Rebecca, Mairi Robertson Robertson, Mairi, Lee Wellerman Wellerman, Lee 224

10 The Sanctity of Crags: mythopraxis, transformation and the Calanais low circles / Colin Richards Richards, Colin 254

11 A Time for Stone Circles, a Time for New People / Seven Griffiths Griffiths, Seven, Colin Richards Richards, Colin 281

12 Constructing through Discourse: the folklore of stone circles and standing stones / Tom Muir Muir, Tom, Colin Richards Richards, Colin 292.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-315) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781909686120

1909686123

OCLC:

869886754

Publisher Number:

99956637091