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Stonehenge: A New Interpretation of Prehistoric Man and the Cosmos
 
 
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Stonehenge: A New Interpretation of Prehistoric Man and the Cosmos (Hardcover)

by John David North (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 656 pages
  • Publisher: The Free Press (24 Nov 1997)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0684845121
  • ISBN-13: 978-0684845128
  • Product Dimensions: 24.3 x 16.3 x 3.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 843,931 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Synopsis

Argues that Stonehenge's scientific purpose was to observe the setting midwinter sun, and that astronomical observations made by the ancient Britons were as rational and methodical as they are today.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on British prehistoric monuments, 18 Dec 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Stonehenge: Neolithic Man and the Cosmos (Paperback)
Only partly about Stonehenge, also covering the barrows, chalk hill figures etc. of Britain. Avoiding speculation and packed with rigorous research, North comes up with much more to say than the usual tiresome amateurish theorising. Quite demanding to read but also quietly entertaining, he covers a huge amount of ground. There's fascinating detail on star, sun and moon alignments (for all types of monument) that he makes wholly credible. It's soon apparent you're reading a tour de force. Surely the best book on the subject.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Stellar sightings and lithic lessons, 23 Jan 2006
By Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Stonehenge: Neolithic Man and the Cosmos (Paperback)
North's comprehensive study of Neolithic structures and their purpose is an intense read. Except for frequent returns to earlier information, this book is not a "page-turner." It is, however, a wealth of challenging ideas on how our Neolithic ancestors lived. While North avoids suggesting that Neolithic Europe was unified in religious thinking, he points out areas of commonality. Some form of ancestor worship, he contends, led to sophisticated insight of the heavens across Europe. Over the centuries this knowledge went from star sightings to the recording of positions of the sun and moon at significant times. The evidence for this thesis lies in the burial sites, banks and ditches, wooden and stone monuments dating back nearly seven thousand years.

With firm conviction, illustrated by numerous graphic images, North demonstrates how early burial sites acted to mark stellar risings. Neolithic burials took place in a variety of sites: gallery graves, passage graves and dolmens, among others. The prevailing final step was the practice of covering the site with a mound of stones and earth. This could result in long barrows, mounds or other structures, but the one thing they had in common was to elevate the top above the surrounding horizon. Using the surrounding ditch remaining from relocating the soil and rock, observers could note certain stars appearing over an "artificial horizon." North postulates a possible shift in focus from ancestors and stars to gods or spirits associated with the sun and moon. This "advance" in thinking resulted in stone monuments like Stonehenge in Britain and sites in Western Europe.

In tracing the growth of religious thinking and its manifestations in Neolithic Europe, North sees consistency without unity. What he does stress is the advanced thinking that must have been taking place during passing years. Wood and stone circles were positioned with uncanny accuracy to perform their tasks. He provides reconstruction drawings of many of the sites to display the limited fields of view they allowed. Peering along the post alignments, only a brief glimpse of rising or setting sun was available to the observer. Lintels, whether wood or stone, were designed to cut down on glare during sunrise or sunset observations. The graphics illustrating these points require careful study, but are rewarding for that.

Some of his contentions seem implausible. He uniformly places observers of stellar risings in ditches. If these were religious leaders, this would seem a diminution of priestly status not seen elsewhere. North has gone to considerable effort to demonstrate just how complex the sites are and what that says about the motivation and abilities of Neolithic peoples. How much of this effort is his, and how much derived from others is difficult to assess. There are frequent references to various authors in the text, but no direct citations. His "Bibliography" is by chapters and too vague to pursue sources without excessive toil. The appendices, on carbon dating, astronomical issues and geographical positioning are helpful, particularly if you have the maths. Overall, this is a useful book, even if it must be read with a sense of caution. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

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