Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe Perception and Society During the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age

"Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe" goes significantly beyond the limits of the existing debate by inviting archeologists from different countries with the Atlantic zone to examine the relationship between landscape features and prehistoric monuments in their specialist regions. By placing the issue within a broader regional and intellectual context, the authors illustrate the diversity of current archeological ideas and approaches converging around this central theme. The regions represented include Britain, France, Ireland, Spain and Sweden. The result constitutes a remarkable testament to the convergence of conceptual approaches to prehistoric monuments in the diverse landscapes and diverse intellectual traditions of Atlantic Europe.

Atlantic Europe is the zone par excellence of megalithic monuments, which encompass a wide range of earthen and stone constructions from inpressive stone circles to modest chambered tombs. A single basic concept lies behind this volume - that the intrinsic qualities encountered within the diverse landscapes pf Atlantic Europe both informed the settings chosen for the monuments and played a role in determining their form and visual appearance. Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe goes significantly beyond the limits of existing debate by inviting archaeologists from different countries with the Atlantic zone (including Britain, France, Ireland, Spain and Sweden) to examine the relationship between landscape features and prehistoric monuments in their specialist regions. By placing the issue within a broader regional and intellectual context, the authors illustrate the diversity of current archaeological ideas and approaches converging around this central theme.

Preface. Introduction: Situating Monuments: the Dialogue between Built Form and Landform in Atlantic Europe Chris Scarre Part I: Atlantic Iberia: 1. Standing Stones and Natural Outcrops: the Role of Ritual Monuments in the Neolithic Tansition of the Central Alentejo Manuel Calado 2. Castanheiro do Vento and the Significance of Monumental Copper Age Sites in Northern Portugal Vtor Oliveira Jorge, Jao Muralha Cardoso, Antnio S Coixo & Leonor Sousa Pereira 3. The Architecture of the Natural World: Rock Art in North-West Iberia Lara Bacelar Alves Part II: Atlantic France 3. The Perception of Space and Geometry: Megalithic Monuments of West-Central France in their Relationship to the Landscape Luc Laporte, Roger Joussame & Chris Scare 4. Coast and Cosmos: the Neolithic Monuments of Northern Brittany Chris Scarre Part III: Britain and Ireland 5. All Cultural Things: Actual and Conceptual Monuments in the Neolithic of Western Britain Vicki Cummings 6. The Land, the Sky and the Scottish Stone Circle Richard Bradley 7. Knocknarea: the Ultimate Monument. Megaliths and Mountains in Neiolithic Cil Irra, North West Ireland Stefan Bergh 7. Megaliths in a Mythologised Landscape: South-west Ireland in the Iron Age William O'Brien Part IV: Scandinavia 8. Visible Intentions? Viewshed Analysis of Bronze Age Burial Mounds in Western Scania, Sweden Karin Ericson Lageras 9. Conclusion: Long Conversations Concerning Time, Descent and Place in the World

Chris Scarre is deputy director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge and specialises in the prehistory of Europe and the Mediterranean.