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From Black Land To Fifth Sun: The Science Of Sacred Sites (Helix books)

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What can archaeology tell us about the spiritual lives of people who, like the painters of Lascaux cave or the builders of Stonehenge, lived so long ago that only (or mostly) their nonlinguistic material remains - their stones and bones - are left for us to study? Brian Fagan's book is a fascinating exploration, for the general reader, of this highly interesting question. The author takes his readers on a personal tour of various sacred sites, and explains how current methods of scientific excavation and anthropological research can help interpret the cultural meaning of these places and the context of belief and ritual in which they operated. While much of their spiritual content is necessarily unrecoverable in detail - think of trying to understand a cathedral with no missals or Creed - there is, still, much that can be learned.

Sites and cultures discussed in the book include: Chauvet, African rock art, Catalhoyuk, Knossos, Stonehenge, Moundbuilders, Egypt, Mayas, and Aztecs (one envies the author his frequent-flyer miles.) The book ranges in space and time from Europe in 15,000 BC, through Africa, and finally to the Americas in 1500 AD. Even so, many well-known sacred places had to be omitted. There is nothing about Malta (a personal favorite of mine), Easter Island, or Asia. Another limitation is that, with so much ground to cover (or uncover), the number of pages devoted to any one site has to be pretty small. The book does not have many photographs, and those that do appear are only in black and white.

I found the chapter on ancient Egypt less successful than the other chapters; Egyptian culture is abundantly literate, even from late predynastic times, so that its inclusion in a book of this kind seems superfluous, if not downright odd.

Written in 1998, the book still (2003) seems basically up-to-date. The author deserves great credit for producing a popular book which covers such a wide area and is at the same time generally reliable and accurate (although it should be noted that Geb, the Egyptian earth god, is not female as the book claims on page 283. Geb is male, an important exception to the usual concept of an Earth Mother in early societies.)

Fagan is of the school of archaeology that applies anthropological concepts and methods to his work. Shamanism, the mother goddess, ancestor cult, sacred-tree cosmology, and astronomical alignments will all make an appearance, although rather conservatively, in these pages. Some readers may feel he goes too far with this, while others may wish that he would take it even farther. I think he gets the balance right, but in any case his reasoning is presented in a clear and straightforward way so that readers can make up their own minds about it.

In summary, most readers who are fascinated by these ancient places, and want to learn more about how archaeology and science interpret them, will find this book to be a helpful and very interesting read.

I was introduced to Brian Fagan's writings when I majored in archaeology as an undergraduate. Many of his his books - notably "The Great Journey" - are very well written. This book, however, is a real disappointment. "From Black Land to Fifth Sun" starts with an interesting theory: that scientific methods can give insights into the spiritual beliefs of prehistoric peoples. Each chapter focuses on one prehistoric culture, describing one or more archaeological sites that have contributed to our understanding of that culture. While the evidence provided does convince us that the culture in question was concerned with spirituality, it does not provide insight into any particular beliefs, and thus fail to support the (admittedly challenging) premise of the book. When Fagan does make assertions about specific beliefs, he does not substantiate them. For example, he refers to some figurines as "goddesses," some sites as "shrines," and some assemblages as clearly indicative of "ancestor worship" - even though he (quite rightly) criticizes other authors for projecting their own presuppositions onto the archaeological record.

The book also suffers from poor editing. Frequently, the points of one paragraph are repeated (sometimes almost verbatim) in the next paragraph. Chapters generally lack clear openings and conclusions; a chapter on San religion, for example, opens and closes with little explanation of how the information relates to the rest of the text. And there is a dearth of illustrations: while the subject matter calls out for photographs and drawings of the intriguing sites and artifacts, most chapters contain only a large-scale map and a few unhelpful images.

Fagan can be a clear and persuasive writer - but he doesn't succeed with this book.

Oxford University had this as the text book for 2008! It was woeful and boring and out of date. I'd suggest this as a gift for people you don't like.

Fagan Brian. From Black Land to Fifth Sun. 1997. This is a look at the physical evidence that enables archaeologists to make conclusions regarding the belief systems of cultures long past. Is it valid to draw parallels between the Cro-Magnon people who lived in what is today, France, of 30,000 years ago and the San of the Kalahari in today's Botswana in Africa?

Fagan Brian. From Black Land to Fifth Sun. 1997. This is a look at the physical evidence that enables archaeologists to make conclusions regarding the belief systems of cultures long past. Is it valid to draw parallels between the Cro-Magnon people who lived in what is today, France, of 30,000 years ago and the San of the Kalahari in today's Botswana in Africa?