Scotland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides) [Paperback]

Anna Ritchie (Author), Graham Ritchie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 1998 | Series: Oxford Archaeological Guides

Steeped in history and renowned for the beauty of its landscape, Scotland offers fertile ground for archaeology enthusiasts to explore. In this authoritative guide, Anna and Graham Ritchie provide fascinating coverage of over 250 ancient Scottish sites, including tombs, forts, cairns, churches, standing stones, and Viking settlements, dating from earliest times to 1200 AD. Arranged geographically within ten different areas, Scotland makes discovering these sites both enjoyable and intelligible.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you consider yourself an archeological traveler, Scotland has much to offer, with its Viking settlements, standing stones, and Roman fortresses. This edition of the Oxford Archeological series will help you distinguish your brochs from your oghams, your mottes from your souterrains--and tell you where to find the best examples of each.

Chosen for their good condition, interest to the visitor, and accessibility, the 150 sites included date to A.D. 1200 and are arranged alphabetically by region: Dumfries and Galloway; Borders; Lothians and Edinburgh; from the Clyde to the Forth; Fife, Angus, Stirling, and Perthshire; Argyll and Bute; Aberdeenshire and Moray; Highland South; Highland North; The Northern Isles; and the Western Isles. Each listing includes driving directions and a grid reference to the site's location on the Ordnance Survey Landranger map (which is not included in the book). Many entries are illustrated with site plans, maps, diagrams, and some of the better photographs in this Oxford series. Useful introductions help set each site within the context of human development, covering domestic life, transport, art, and war. Here's an example from a write-up on the Chesters fort near Drem:

The surprising aspect of this fort is its location, which shows a total disregard for defensive strategy. It lies at the foot of a ridge at the mercy of attackers on higher ground with the advantage of overlooking the interior of the fort. This apparently suicidal choice of location must imply that prestige rather than defence was the major concern. With the economic wealth of this fertile coastal plan at their command, the Chesters community may have had no fear of attack.

--Kathryn True

Review

`The Oxford Archaeological Guides offer a wealth of detailed, accurate but always readable information, providing anyone who has a serious interest in archaeology with the means to derive the utmost benefit from a visit to an ancient site. They are user-friendly and highly recommended.' Paul Bahn

`Judged on Scotland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide and the plans for the series as a whole these books will fill the gap in travel literature that has been obvious for a very long time. The entries in Scotland betray both genuine affection for the country and its antiquities, and the exercise of the sort of judgement that one can trust to point what will be found rewarding on the ground.' Peter Salway

`Anna and Graham Ritchie together have an unparalleled kknowledge of the Scottish heritage ... this guide is well laid out, beautifully illustrated, and with clear instructions regarding access.' Steven Mithen

`Call it "Travels with my Trowel" - this splendid Oxford Archaeological Guide to Scotland is an indispensable vade-mecum for the discriminating traveller.' Magnus Magnusson

`A valuable companion, whether on the desk or in the pocket.' Andrew Sherratt

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192880020
• ISBN-13: 978-0192880024
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,087,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fabulous resource., June 20, 2004

By 

Richard D. Price "rprice" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scotland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides) (Paperback)

I've used this book extensively on two trips to Scotland. It provides information (including directions to get to the sites) on a wide range of interesting subjects. It was one of the primary sources for planning six weeks of travel. For anyone even slightly interested in Scottish antiquities, this is THE place to start.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish ... I wish ... I wish, April 3, 2007

By 

Alex Lovejoy "Alex" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Scotland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides) (Paperback)

I've travelled to Scotland twice now and O how I wish I'd had this book with me during those trips. I love exploring historical sites when I'm vacationing, especially the ancient ones ... and this guide would have been so helpful, both in terms of trip planning AND in terms of helping me learn as much as possible about the sites I visited.

With well over 1000 castles alone, Scotland is a land VERY rich in archaelogical sites ranging from stone aged to Roman to WWII ... so rich, in fact, that you often don't realize when you're driving or walking right past something interesting. This book will definitely help you determine what potential points of interest lie along the path of your travels and evaluate which one are likely to be of greatest interest to you. I used this book after my trips to learn about places we went (which was fun) and was surprised to learn how much we didn't even know we'd missed. The map coordinates and general location information will help you find some of the "less obvious" sites (many such sites don't have big signs that direct you to them from the road) and the write ups will give you at least some information about the site itself.

I've also found that using this sort of guide (Scotland or other countries) in conjunction with other historical resources (web sites, maps, other books, etc.) was particularly useful. The OAG helped me figure out a "long list" of sites I might want to visit and my other resources then provided more in depth information about these places so I could narrow my list down to a final selection.

If you enjoy traveling to and visiting ancient sites, the OAG's are definitely a tool you'll want to keep handy.

4.0 out of 5 stars An oldie but goodie, June 5, 2011

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Pictomaniac - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Scotland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides) (Paperback)

I bought a 1998 edition used. The archaeological sites don't change much, so that was fine. It contains site plans, drawings and other information helpful in interpretation of sites. The Oxford series of Archaeological guides are well known as authoritative.

I found this guide very useful in trip planning. Each site description included directions. This could be encouraging or discouraging about actually getting to some ancient sites. We're talking remote, in many cases. This guide is not about objects in museums, but about actual physical locations.

The book has excellent lists of sites by region and by archaeological period. I found these features very helpful in trip planning.

This book is a keeper. Will use for any future trips to Scotland.