Prehistoric Britain

by Timothy Darvill

Britain has been inhabited by humans for over half a million years, during which time there were a great many changes in lifestyles and in the surrounding landscape. This book, now in its second edition, examines the development of human societies in Britain from earliest times to the Roman conquest of AD 43, as revealed by archaeological evidence. Special attention is given to six themes which are traced through subsistence, technology, ritual, trade, society, and population.



Prehistoric Britain begins by introducing the background to prehistoric studies in Britain, presenting it in terms of the development of interest in the subject and the changes wrought by new techniques such as radiocarbon dating, and new theories, such as the emphasis on social archaeology. The central sections trace the development of society from the hunter-gatherer groups of the last Ice Age, through the adoption of farming, the introduction of metalworking, and on to the rise of highly organized societies living on the fringes of the mighty Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. Throughout, emphasis is given to documenting and explaining changes within these prehistoric communities, and to exploring the regional variations found in Britain. In this way the wealth of evidence that can be seen in the countryside and in our museums is placed firmly in its proper context. It concludes with a review of the effects of prehistoric communities on life today.



With over 120 illustrations, this is a unique review of Britain's ancient past as revealed by modern archaeology. The revisions and updates to Prehistoric Britain ensure that this will continue to be the most comprehensive and authoritative account of British prehistory for those students and interested readers studying the subject.

Genres: Archaeology, History, Nonfiction

706 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 1987

About the author

Timothy Darvill was an English archaeologist and author, best known for his publications on prehistoric Britain and his excavations in England, Wales, and the Isle of Man. He was Professor of Archaeology in the Faculty of Science and Technology Bournemouth University in England. In April 2008 he co-directed excavations within Stonehenge, together with Geoffrey Wainwright and Miles Russell, to examine the early stone structures on the site. The work featured heavily in a BBC Timewatch programme which examined the theory that Stonehenge was a prehistoric centre of healing. He was appointed OBE in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Reviews

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not entirely sure who the intended audience for this book is. It is written as narrative rather than complex critical analysis, which would seem to indicate that it is aimed at beginners and a more general and beginner audience. Indeed, the first couple of chapters do the typical thing of explaining the methods and techniques archaeologists use and how we know what we know about prehistory. But the rest of the text, whilst narrative, goes in depth into the technical details of sites and artefacts and makes for a very dry read – something I’m used to as an academic, but which newcomers to the subject might have trouble with in keeping their attention focused. I myself would probably use this as a reference book in future, looking up eras or regions as needed by my research and/or travel plans. It doesn’t present anything new or gripping, like a new discovery or interpretation, but as a detailed overview of prehistoric Britain I can see this being useful.

7 out of 10

[Kieran]

If I’d have stopped before the final two chapters, I’d have given this 4/5. Yes, it got a bit too bogged down on individual sites, but the overall narrative was clear and interesting. And who couldn’t love a book where the chapter names are all rock or pop songs?

But I struggled, really struggled, with some of the claims that the author made in the last two chapters. Particularly irksome, that Old English (or its predecessors) have been present in the British Isles in some form since maybe the 4th millennium BC; I know that this is a recently contested issue, but still. And there were some passing comments that read a lot like climate change scepticism, as in here and now in the 21st century. A really disappointing end, which is making me doubt the rest of the book!

[Brian Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started interesting enough - but by the time it reached the Bronze Age my interest was flagging. The main problem is that this book doesn't really seem to know its purpose, or audience.

It's very focused on describing "stones and bones", with only a limited narrative about them. So rather than any real focus on explaining how prehistoric peoples and their societies developed in Britain we're instead provided with endless details about excavated sites.

Which in itself means that this could prove to be a useful reference book - except for the fact that it's completely lacking in academic footnotes and references. The result is a book that could overwhelm the general reader with too much specific information, while not providing enough for the undergraduate.

Admittedly this is an old book - first published in the 1980's - that has an old-fashioned approach to archaeology, in which detailing pottery and burials and postholes is considered the more important. While it has been updated to some degree for 2010, the result is patchy - apparently, climate change may or may not be a thing.

Another striking omission is Ireland, which is kept outside of the scope of this book, even though it's geographically and culturally part of Britain in prehistory - and takes up a third of every single map in this volume. Perhaps it might have been more judicious for the author to focus on a fewer number of excavations in England in order to accommodate a more holistic view of developments across Britain and the near continent, in order to provide a more general overview.

Overall, I'm sure I'll come back to this book to reference the periods I've most interested in, but ultimately I think Darvill's book attempts to do too much with the result that its achievements are limited.

Also, a note to the publisher to check the use of hyphens in the ebook: they se-em to have enter-ed the text in a ran-dom fash-ion.