STONE WORLDS

This book represents an innovative experiment in presenting the results of a large-scale, multidisciplinary archaeological project. The well-known authors and their team examined the Neolithic and Bronze Age landscapes on Bodmin Moor of Southwest England, especially the site of Leskernick. The result is a multivocal, multidisciplinary telling of the stories of Bodmin Moor—both ancient and modern—using a large number of literary genres and academic disciplines. Dialogue, storytelling, poetry, photo essays and museum exhibits all appear in the volume, along with contributions from archaeologists, anthropologists, sociologists, geologists, and ecologists. The result is a major synthesis of the Bronze Age settlements and ritual sites of the Moor, contextualized within the Bronze Ages of southwestern and central Britain, and a tracing of the changing meaning of this landscape over the past five thousand years. Of obvious interest to those in British prehistory, this is a substantial presentation of a groundbreaking project that will also be of interest to many concerned with the interpretation of social landscapes and the public presentation of archaeology.

This book represents an innovative experiment in presenting the results of a large-scale, multidisciplinary archaeological project, that of the Neolithic and Bronze Age landscapes on Bodmin Moor of Southwest England.

Stone Worlds will become one of the defining texts for the phenomenological approach to prehistoric archaeology. It combines narrative, dialogue, diary entries and photo essays to present sometimes conflicting ideas about human engagement with the ancient landscape, and recent artists (Henry Moore, Andy Goldsworthy) who focus upon setting as central themes in their work. The authors conducted five seasons of fieldwork in Leskernick on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, setting out to reinterpret the landscape in its contemporary setting. They depart from a singular authoritative definition of the landscape, instead offering it to observers for their own interpretation. Covering stones in cling-film and painting them, as well as having a site poet, they present a vivid re-creation of the Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement and ritual sites of the moor. -Richard Lee, British Archaeology

The directors …explored the archaeologists’ multifaceted perceptions of the excavation landscape. This ethnographic component is a noteworthy advance. An ethnography of archaeology can play a significant role in teasing out our experiences of landscapes and discerning how these experiences shape our understanding and exploration of archaeological sites. These innovations represent important steps towards a more full disclosure of field practice and relationships. In conclusion, this volume…represents a significant movement towards a more reflexive methodology in archeology. The complete review may be read online at: <a href=”http://wings.buffalo.edu/ARD/cgi/showme.cgi?keycode=3237″>http://wings.buffalo.edu/ARD/cgi/showme.cgi?keycode=3237 -Anna Boozer, Anthropology Review Database

Barbara Bender is Professor of Heritage Anthropology at University College London and author of Stonehenge: Making Space and other works on landscape archaeology.Sue Hamilton is Reader in Later European Prehistory at University College London and author of numerous articles on aspects of the British and European Bronze and Iron Ages, gendered and sensory landscapes, and archaeological practice. She has conducted fieldwork in southern Britain, France, and Italy. She is co-editor of the book Archaeology and Women.Chris Tilley is Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at University College London and author or editor of fifteen books and innumerable articles on archaeological theory and European prehistory.