There are more than nine hundred stone circles in the British Isles alone and countless thousands of other prehistoric ruins scattered across Europe. These are the remains of past lives, civilisations and cultures, and many remain a source of mystery. We may never know the reason for the existence of these ancient monuments; however, with their creators long gone and their beliefs lost, a modern generation have used these sites for a number of weird and wonderful purposes. This book is a unique and light-hearted guide to the variety of uses stone circles have been put to through the ages and includes Britain's most visited sites such as Stonehenge and Avebury as well as the comparatively little known of these archaeological ruins. As well as stone circles you can find single standing stones, henges, burial chambers, prehistoric rock art and carved Pictish stones. This strange and fascinating list of uses ranges from executions to the venue for a rock concert, from marriages to the dining table of an intrepid antiquarian with a head for heights. Discover how some circles were used for sex and promoting fertility, another for preventing pregnancy, and how these sites have been associated with fairies, witches, the Devil, UFO's, space aliens and visionary experiences amongst many other things.
Geoff Holder has written almost twenty non-fiction books on the paranormal, the peculiar, the Gothic and the gruesome, from "The Jacobites and the Supernatural" and "101 Things to Do with a Stone Circle" to "Scottish Bodysnatchers" and nine titles in "The Guide to the Mysterious..." series, covering everywhere from the Lake District and Loch Ness to Glasgow and Aberdeen.
His work encompasses folklore, archaeology, local history, parapsychology, ghosts, Forteana, neo-antiquarianism and witchcraft, with a side order of gargoyles and graveyards. He has had over thirty jobs - once lasting an entire morning in a slaughterhouse - and won numerous awards as a video scriptwriter and producer.
