Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Secrets of the Avebury Stones
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Secrets of the Avebury Stones [Paperback]

George Terence Meaden (Author)

Available from these sellers.


Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Paperback --   -- --
Video Games Trade-In
Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details.

Product details

Product Description

Product Description

Avebury, less than 20 miles from its more famous neighbor, Stonehenge, is rich in symbols linked to pre-Christian Goddess religions. This book reveals the wonders of the site, the largest and most complex prehistoric monument in Britain, through a lavishly illustrated guided tour encompassing history, archaeology, spirituality, and art.

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon U.K.
5 star:    (0)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
Share your experience with this product with others
Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 3.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Petroglyphic Playboy?, 26 Mar 2003
By Stephen A. Haines - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Secrets of the Avebury Stones (Paperback)
It is interesting to consider which of the many available chemical compounds some "observers" might use when assessing Britain's famous megaliths. Aubrey Burl, leading scholar in the field, contends the local pubs have sufficiently potent solutions. Clearly, something more than simple daylight is required to inspire some of the novel insights published over the years. Meaden's source of inspiration remains obscure. What is vividly clear from this book is that Meaden's imagination far exceeds his vision - or data.

His thesis is that the stone monuments at Avebury are the symbols of an intense Neolithic fertility cult. The shapes of the stones, their various surface irregularities and their "orientation" all represent devotion to a goddess cult. Filled with speculation, vivid photographs, even more vividly interpreted, the book is a testament to what imagination can produce. Meaden states that "left-facing" stones represent Neolithic "femininity," while the "right-facing" ones are "male." There are breasts, vulvas, various orifices, phallic stones and their shadows. It's a provocative parade of lithic seduction. Evidence for his interpretations relies on his own, earlier, work. No other supportive material is provided - except for his portfolio of carefully situated photographs.

While the maps and diagrams are useful, the photographs belie Meaden's attempts to show us something any geologist can explain. The profile of the human face is not a complex shape. A long curve, broken only by a couple of protrusions - the eyebrow, nose and lips. In stone profiles, the chin is nearly universally absent. A face of rock, irregular to start with, is subject to many forms of weathering. A little water, winter-frozen in a cleft, breaks off, leaving a recess with outcrops above and below. Voila! We now have the eyebrow and nose of a "face" seen from the side. Usually, the form can be detected only during certain times of the day when the shadows are longer, leaving the shapes more distinct. Meaden's collection of photographs beautifully depict how this erosion is revealed.

One should always be cautious opening a book with the words "the secrets" in the title. The implication is almost always that the author has made a revolutionary discovery the rest of us dullards have not. This book is an excellent example. While it would be delightful to learn someone has truly revealed a major aspect of Neolithic society, that breakthrough hasn't been achieved here. Perhaps this book stands as a major contribution to the idea of Neolithic "political correctness." It is certainly not a work of scholarship.

› Go to Amazon U.S. to see the review  3.0 out of 5 stars 
Was this review helpful?   Let us know

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject



















i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback