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Hengeworld [Paperback]

Michael Pitts
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
Price: £10.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Book Description

2 Aug 2001 0099278758 978-0099278757 New Ed
In November 1997 English Heritage announced the discovery of a vast prehistoric temple in Somerset. The extraordinary wooden rings at Stanton Drew are the most recent and biggest of a series of remarkable discoveries that have transformed the way archaeologists think of the great monuments in the region, including Avebury and Stonehenge; one of the world's most famous prehistoric monuments, top tourist site and top location for summer solstice celebrations. The results of these discoveries have not been published outside academic journals and no one has considered the wider implications of these finds. Here Mike Pitts, who has worked as an archaeologist at Avebury, and has access to the unpublished English Heritage files, asks what sort of people designed and built these extraordinary neolithic structures - the biggest in Britain until the arrival of medieval cathedrals. Using computer reconstructions he shows what they looked like and asks what they are for. This is the story of the discovery of a lost civilisation that spanned five centuries, a civilisation that now lies mostly beneath the fields of Southern England. (20001212)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Arrow; New Ed edition (2 Aug 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0099278758
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099278757
  • Product Dimensions: 13 x 2.8 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 277,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon Review

From an archaeologist and co-author of Fairweather Eden (on the Boxgrove excavations), comes a book that takes us from hard facts to speculation on prehistoric minds. Mike Pitts' Hengeworld unites societies of different dates, places and pottery styles by the action of building "circular enclosed spaces", seeking to "confront real people" from that henge-building Neolithic world. Dealing principally, but far from exclusively, with Stonehenge and Avebury, Hengeworld asks the usual questions concerning how they were built, how they looked in their time and the extent to which astronomy and religion had a part in their purpose. Combining reports of his own digs and new research with a re-examination of evidence gathered in the past, Mike Pitts also makes some significant new discoveries and solves some intriguing mysteries from the recent history of archaeological excavation along the way. Probing beyond the material world, he suggests "new contexts" for Stonehenge which "envisage metaphor and symbol". Hengeworld is supported by clear diagrams and well-documented evidence: there are over 75 pages of appended radiocarbon date tables, notes and bibliographic information. But Mike Pitts also tells a good story, ably capturing the excitement of new discoveries with an almost chatty writing style and touches of humour and suspense. This is a book which amateurs and professionals alike should find valuable and evocative. --Karen Tiley --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Generations have tried to understand the meaning of this amazing monument... yet till now no one has bene able to say with any confidence what it was for... an up-to-date, eye-opening book on our greatest prehistoric monument" (Daily Mail )

"Reads like a whodunnit" (Manchester Evening News )

"Mike Pitts is that rare thing, an archaeologist who not only makes the news...but who can also write it. This book is a gem - witty, charming, urbane, informative" (Simon Denison, British Archaeology )

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An enlightening view of a fascinating subject. 12 Oct 2001
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Archaeology is terribly fashionable at the moment, as witnessed by such TV programmes as TIME TEAM and MEET THE ANCESTORS, but rarely do books on the subject generate the same enthusiasm in the reader. I am happy to say that this is a rare exception.
Mike Pitts obviously knows his subject, and so he should when you consider his biography, but, unlike so many other archaeologists who put down the trowel in favour of the pen, he also has the knack of being able to write entertainingly about it. I am not suggesting that this is a book that has been 'dumbed down', far from it. However, Pitts manages to educate the reader without swamping his text in archaeological jargon and, at one and the same time, make you want to keep on turning the page.
Admitedly, with such subject matter the author already had a headstart but, having recently read several other similar works, it would have been all too easy to go wrong. Pitts achieves an enviable balance. This is how archaeology should be presented to the public.
Matthew Champion.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Peasant TOP 100 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Mike Pitts is an extraordinarily talented writer, able to convey the most technical details with clarity, telling a story with suspense and drama, and enlivening longeurs with flashes of dry wit which, in less expert hands, would strike a jarring note. So why only 3 stars? I've just read this for the second time, and feel more than ever that Pitts was badly let down by his publishers who, whether to reach a wider audience or simply inpursuit of sales, chose a format which tragically fails to do the text justice. "Hengeworld" is published in novel format - thick, with small pages - and the cover picture is a rather sensationalist shot of the Heel Stone with Stonehenge in the background. The presentation, and the fact that Arrow books publish a lot of very popular titles, lead the unwary browser to expect a book which sets out a picture of neolithic culture at the time of the building of Stonehenge, with a final revelation of the truth about the meaning of Stonehenge, Avebury and Stanton Drew.

If you are a standing stone nut attracted by the lurid populist cover, you will find this book a disappointment. If you are the sort of person to whom it will appeal - the serious archaeology enthusiast - you may mistakenly pass it by, unless you click that this is THE Mike Pitts, the main authority on the subject. Pitts is a card-carrying proper, professional archaeologist, fully qualified to write the kind of definitive, dry survey of henge-building and its anthropological context that would have you dozing off in minutes. Instead, he has given us a book that rips along, full of zest and fascination, without succumbing to any of the baseless speculation or circular arguments that we would have found in a book by a mere journalist.

However, this is less a description of the world of the henge builders, more one of the world of the henge-digger-uppers. Though the Manchester Evening News is quoted as saying "reads like a whodunnit", it would be more accurate to say 'reads like a police procedural'. Pitts describes in full the history of the archaeology of henges (minor, less well-known ones as well as the big glamorous jobs), and of the archaelogists who did the work; their in-fighting, their incompetences, their unexpected discoveries. It is a long and complex tale and it is a great testament to Pitts' skill as a writer that he makes it every bit as gripping and fast-moving as he does. By now, Hengeworld is already a classic, and no doubt generations of archaeology students have thanked Mr Pitts from the bottom of their hearts for lightening their load. Out of the tale of archaeological progress emerges, in the latter part of the book a surprisingly vivid picture of just what we were promised; the world of the henge-builders.

Be under no illusions. Despite its accessible style and thrilling anecdotes, this is a serious book and you will, once you have read it, have as good an understanding of the world of our ancestors as anybody. The text is suitable for all ages and readers, from interested schoolchildren upwards. Where the book falls down - and the reason I have given it only three stars - is that the format permits only of the nastiest, tiny, obscure and barely legible plans and diagrams. At times, Pitts' graphs and data are insufficiently interpreted for the ordinary reader. It is good that, for the student, he has included all the technical data in appendices, but a little more effort on maps and photos, a larger format and some colour plates, would have raised this book to another level entirely.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By ManderW
Format:Paperback
I read this to get a quick background on henges before taking my American family members to see Stonehenge. Although I am an archaeologist, I don't study the British Isles, and I didn't know very much about the subject. This book gives a good overview of what is known and where those facts came from, which can be important in evaluating why and how our knowledge of "Hengeworld" is limited. The history of excavations was very enlightening, although it is somewhat sad to realize the negative impact that historic excavations have had on these sites.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing - could have been so much better
The author clearly knows a lot about the subject, but can't decide whether to describe the history of henges or the history of the history of henges. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2007 by Arabanija
5.0 out of 5 stars A stone drag[ged]
You're the honoured guest at Mike Pitts' party. He's set up a receiving line. You meet a guest, are given some personal background, there's a bit of chat, perhaps a short show... Read more
Published on 6 April 2003 by Stephen A. Haines
5.0 out of 5 stars A scholarly page-turner!
Pitts' book gives a thorough and accurate picture of the present archaeological knowledge of Neolithic ritual monuments,especially Stonehenge. Read more
Published on 9 Dec 2001
2.0 out of 5 stars the anthropology of archeologists, not neolithic peoples
There's a great book to be written about the new views of Stonehenge. This isn't it. It's a rather long-winded discussion of the squabbles of academics about the minutiae of... Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2001 by Brian Millar
3.0 out of 5 stars Strictly for enthusiasts
A menhir fest for archeology afficiandos, Pitts provides an immensely detailed chronological account of excavations at Stonehenge, Avebury and Woodhenge and comparisons with lesser... Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2001 by "dionemco"
4.0 out of 5 stars Archaeology: brought to life.
Archaeology is often accused of being a dry subject, and many books in the field seem sadly to conform to this archaism. Read more
Published on 2 Nov 2000
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