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The Tale of the Axe: How the Neolithic Revolution Transformed Britain
How the New Stone Age shaped our world Approximately 12,000 years ago, early humans in western Asia and Europe who had been itinerant foragers, subsisting on what food they could find, slowly began settling in one place. They farmed and domesticated animals, created new tools, built monuments, and began preserving and storing food. What brought about this shift? What difference did it make to the overall population? And what effects did this Neolithic Revolution have on generations to come?
The Tale of the Axe explores the New Stone Age―named for the new types of stone tools that appeared at that time, specifically the ground stone axe―taking Britain as its focus. David Miles takes the reader on a journey through Neolithic Britain by way of its ancestors, geographical neighbors, and the species from which humans emerged before turning an eye to the future and those aspects of the Neolithic Revolution that live on today: farming, built communities, modern man, and much more. 70 illustrations, 20 in color
The Tale of the Axe explores the New Stone Age―named for the new types of stone tools that appeared at that time, specifically the ground stone axe―taking Britain as its focus. David Miles takes the reader on a journey through Neolithic Britain by way of its ancestors, geographical neighbors, and the species from which humans emerged before turning an eye to the future and those aspects of the Neolithic Revolution that live on today: farming, built communities, modern man, and much more. 70 illustrations, 20 in color
384 pages, Hardcover
First published August 15, 2016
About the author
David Miles
12 books1 followerLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
(3)archaeology
Miles, David, 1947-
from Library of Congress website
(3)archaeology
Miles, David, 1947-
from Library of Congress website
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 3, 2017
Engaging and illuminating history of the rise of farming and the transformation of the British Isles between the Ice Age and the Bronze age.
At some point in the late 41st or early 42nd century BC a group of people arrived by sea and travelled up the river Medway in Kent. Sometime between 4065 BC and 3940 BC they built a house. Nothing like it had been seen before in the densely wooded British Isles. It was a European style longhouse and the people who lived in it for the next 300 years or so, bought at least part of the Neolithic farming lifestyle with them.
David Miles has written an engaging and illuminating account, incorporating the latest archaeological research, of the long origin and development of farming in the middle east and its steady march north and west across Europe over two and a half millennia to the shores of the English Channel.
He also paints an overview of the changing climate, geography, flora and fauna of the north-western peninsula of Europe at the end of the Ice Age and its transformation into the archipelago of islands that would come to be called the British Isles as the big game hunters of the tundra and open plains and their prey were slowly engulfed by great forests spreading northwards one windblown seed at a time.
David Miles has a soft spot for the people of the Mesolithic, the hunters and gatherers of the wildwood who trod lightly on the land. Their population was tiny, perhaps a few thousand and they have left the subtlest of traces. They had a deep understanding and spiritual connection to their environment, but were powerless in the face of forces beyond their control as rising sea levels drowned the plains to create the North Sea and make Britain an island, and they were hit hard by a vicious return of the cold around 6200 BC. The possibility is raised that the first farmers’ migration to Britain was partly pulled by a decline in native hunter-gatherer numbers as well as a push of population expansion in continental Europe.
The heart of the book covers the evolution of Neolithic cultures throughout the British Isles. David Miles pays tribute to the Gathering Time project in developing a new precision in chronology. It is now possible to map the growth and development of long barrows, causewayed enclosures and henge monuments with a precision that would have been astonishing even a few decades ago. All major sites, including Stonehenge, Avebury, Orkney, Newgrange and many more are covered, but the focus of the book is on the people’s lives.
Their stone axes bring down the greatest Oaks, Elms, Hazels, Alders and Ash of the wildwood, to begin the process of clearing the land for farming and pasture. Many axes originate in the Lake District and some come all the way from the Alps, and it is the movement and exchange of things, people and ideas that drive the evolution of prehistoric cultures. Insights into the organisation of society, violence and peace, movement of people, can be inferred from archaeology and genetics, but new discoveries can shake the kaleidoscope through which we view the Neolithic.
Writing in New Scientist, Ian Tattersall described David Miles as a popular, genial lecturer, taking us on a guided tour of a lifetime’s experience of prehistory. It is a delightful, insightful and fascinating journey.
At some point in the late 41st or early 42nd century BC a group of people arrived by sea and travelled up the river Medway in Kent. Sometime between 4065 BC and 3940 BC they built a house. Nothing like it had been seen before in the densely wooded British Isles. It was a European style longhouse and the people who lived in it for the next 300 years or so, bought at least part of the Neolithic farming lifestyle with them.
David Miles has written an engaging and illuminating account, incorporating the latest archaeological research, of the long origin and development of farming in the middle east and its steady march north and west across Europe over two and a half millennia to the shores of the English Channel.
He also paints an overview of the changing climate, geography, flora and fauna of the north-western peninsula of Europe at the end of the Ice Age and its transformation into the archipelago of islands that would come to be called the British Isles as the big game hunters of the tundra and open plains and their prey were slowly engulfed by great forests spreading northwards one windblown seed at a time.
David Miles has a soft spot for the people of the Mesolithic, the hunters and gatherers of the wildwood who trod lightly on the land. Their population was tiny, perhaps a few thousand and they have left the subtlest of traces. They had a deep understanding and spiritual connection to their environment, but were powerless in the face of forces beyond their control as rising sea levels drowned the plains to create the North Sea and make Britain an island, and they were hit hard by a vicious return of the cold around 6200 BC. The possibility is raised that the first farmers’ migration to Britain was partly pulled by a decline in native hunter-gatherer numbers as well as a push of population expansion in continental Europe.
The heart of the book covers the evolution of Neolithic cultures throughout the British Isles. David Miles pays tribute to the Gathering Time project in developing a new precision in chronology. It is now possible to map the growth and development of long barrows, causewayed enclosures and henge monuments with a precision that would have been astonishing even a few decades ago. All major sites, including Stonehenge, Avebury, Orkney, Newgrange and many more are covered, but the focus of the book is on the people’s lives.
Their stone axes bring down the greatest Oaks, Elms, Hazels, Alders and Ash of the wildwood, to begin the process of clearing the land for farming and pasture. Many axes originate in the Lake District and some come all the way from the Alps, and it is the movement and exchange of things, people and ideas that drive the evolution of prehistoric cultures. Insights into the organisation of society, violence and peace, movement of people, can be inferred from archaeology and genetics, but new discoveries can shake the kaleidoscope through which we view the Neolithic.
Writing in New Scientist, Ian Tattersall described David Miles as a popular, genial lecturer, taking us on a guided tour of a lifetime’s experience of prehistory. It is a delightful, insightful and fascinating journey.
March 26, 2021
Ritual and More Ritual
Overall this book was excellent. The register of the language used was excellent. Aimed at the fairly informed lay reader it was comprehensible and informative without being simplistic My one personal gripe is that the author like many archaeologists, tends to was lyrical about imaginary religious rituals . A tiny fly in otherwise first class ointment.
Overall this book was excellent. The register of the language used was excellent. Aimed at the fairly informed lay reader it was comprehensible and informative without being simplistic My one personal gripe is that the author like many archaeologists, tends to was lyrical about imaginary religious rituals . A tiny fly in otherwise first class ointment.
February 3, 2020
Irritating.
August 7, 2017
How the farming revolution came to Britain. David Miles has managed to write a very engaging history, which includes the latest academic research without overwhelming the lay-person (me). I'm tempted to give this 5 stars, but it is in need of some editing. Several chapters didn't really flow smoothly into one another, and at points were too repetitive. With more editing the book could probably be 3/4 the size, cover the same ground, and still have space to describe the admirably few bits of jargon I found unfamiliar. Thankfully, these minor shortcomings didn't hinder my enjoyment of the material. Before reading this, I knew almost nothing about Mesolithic and Neolithic Europe and this book was a great introduction.
February 11, 2021
The books improves significantly from the beginning to end. The beginning felt at times condescending and patronizing. The end, especially the last few chapters and the epilogue, on the other hand are fantastic. They have are fast paced and have a strong message. I'm looking forward to a follow up book with more of that!
August 29, 2019
Comprehensive study of neolithic Britain. i didn't finish it, it was far too dense for stupid old me.
February 1, 2020
Noahs ark domesticated animals take a ride a long for a 2 million year tyranny abroad a negative geography. This book should be used as a reference or daily meditation at best. Reading this along side "Girl wash your face" can cause a grown man to go insane.
The illustrations and photos are fun as well. An engraved stone in the Neolithic tomb at Gavr'Inis Morbihan, Brittany. Among the carved patterns are the distinctive shapes of jadeitite axes.
This book won't get the rumor mills swirling, but what?
Just tape your fingers with medical tape to end this review.
The illustrations and photos are fun as well. An engraved stone in the Neolithic tomb at Gavr'Inis Morbihan, Brittany. Among the carved patterns are the distinctive shapes of jadeitite axes.
This book won't get the rumor mills swirling, but what?
Just tape your fingers with medical tape to end this review.
December 28, 2016
From innovative expansions to bleak prospects.
April 22, 2017
Excellent overview of the development of society from the mesolithic to the late Bronze Age, using the stone axe as a way to explore belief systems, culture, and trade/exchange routes from the Middle East to northern Europe. Engagingly written and up-to-date.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews