The Significance of Monuments: On the Shaping of Human Experience in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe [Paperback]

Richard Bradley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0415152046 | ISBN-13: 978-0415152044 | Edition: 1

The Neolithic period, when agriculture began and many monuments - including Stonehenge - were constructed, is an era fraught with paradoxes and ambiguities. Starting in the Mesolithic and carrying his analysis through to the Late Bronze Age, Richard Bradley sheds light on this complex period and the changing consciousness of these prehistoric peoples.
The Significance of Monuments studies the importance of monuments tracing their history from their first creation over six thousand years later. Part One discusses how monuments first developed and their role in developing a new sense of time and space among the inhabitants of prehistoric Europe. Other features of the prehistoric landscape - such as mounds and enclosures - across Continental Europe are also examined. Part Two studies how such monuments were modified and reinterpreted to suit the changing needs of society through a series of detailed case studies.
The Significance of Monuments is an indispensable text for all students of European prehistory. It is also an enlightening read for professional archaeologists and all those interested in this fascinating period.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Bradley writes as he speaks: enthusiastically, lucidly and, even more importantly, interestingly.'

'Like a stone on calm water, it by necessity leaves out some areas but makes a profound impact on others and in so doing is no less gratifying. It should be essential reading to anyone interested in Neolithic studies.' - Alex Gibson, Landscape History vol 20 98

'As someone who can work theory into practice, Bradley has the rare ability to produce successful interpretative archaeologies in a clear, readable and compelling style. It is a publication that deserves a wide audience, and not just within the closed circle of British prehistorians.' - Joshua Pollard

'Bradley has identified some aspects of cosmological significance at a broad European level. The Significance of Monuments is stimulating, interesting, and enjoyable; I would highly recommend it for teaching.' - Assemblage, University of Sheffield

About the Author

Richard Bradley is Professor of Archaeology at Reading University. Current interests include landscape archaeology and rock art. Recent books include Altering the Earth and Rock Art and the Prehistory of Atlantic Europe. He is the general editor of the Routledge Journal World Archaeology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (March 22, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415152046
• ISBN-13: 978-0415152044
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,021,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The significance of monuments, May 18, 2005

By 

Hallstatt Prince (MA. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Significance of Monuments: On the Shaping of Human Experience in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe (Paperback)

The author explores the 'human experience of time and place'  from the Later Mesolithic Period through the transformations in the archaeological record that occur in many areas during the Bronze Age. His contention is people's involvement with monuments was central to the creation of new senses of time and place, and that this helped in the transition to new types of settlements and agriculture. Interesting ideas but to this reviewer the reasons the author gives that the "sacred place" gave rise to settlement and agricultural sites instead of the chronology occurring the other way around or simultaneously are in the end not completely convincing.

An interesting book short yet well written and full of illustrations.

Recommended

5.0 out of 5 stars An intersting persepctive well argued, November 20, 2008

By 

Lynne Kelly (Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Significance of Monuments: On the Shaping of Human Experience in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe (Paperback)

I borrowed this book from the library, along with many others by this prolific author. I soon knew that I would have to buy it, there is so much in the book I will want to return to.

Unlike another reviewer, I did find the argument convincing - that the social significance of the monuments enabled settling and agriculture. But this book offers much more - it gives a really comprehensive overview of the sequence of monuments from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age into the Iron Age. Bradley also places these monuments within their landscape.

There is a great deal to think about as a result of reading this book - Bradley is talking about people of the same species, intelligence and life needs as us. They built extraordinary monuments, but what fascinates me most is why. Bradley presents the changes over time as the lifestyle changed from hunter gatherer to large agricultural settlements. The fact that the change was the gradual process that Bradley presents, and that the monuments were a significant catalyst to that change, is intriguing.