Standing Stones Stonehenge Carnac and the World of Megaliths (New Horizons) /anglais

by MOHEM JEAN-PIERRE

Who built the megaliths, those massive stone structures ranging from tombs to standing stones that date back to over 4000 BC? Why were they built? How were the enormous stones transported and erected? Were these strange, sacred stones used as temples or tombs, sculptures or houses? Covering the best-known sites - Avebury and Stonehenge in England, Carnac in France and Knowth in Ireland - and also less famous examples in Scandinavia, Malta, Egypt and Spain, this book considers the special significance - architectural, scientific, religious and cultural - of these enigmatic Neolithic stone structures.

Genres: Prehistory, Reference, History, Travel

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't realized how many of these things there are (or how extensive some of them were either). And of course--as always with the Abrams Discoveries series--the pics and design are very strong indeed. The author however is prone (as are a lot of sociologist/archaeologist types) to waxing awfully pretentious at times--as when he declares: "There is a disproportion between functional interior architecture and the exterior monumentality, which was designed to make an impression on the community." Or when he intones: "The spirits of the dead, and probably of the gods--necessary to any society that makes use of symbols, as researcher Jacques Cauvin has said--thus inhabited the stones...." The kind of sentences that make you stare and stare at them on the subway (before finally just shaking your head and giving up, then moving on).

[Derek Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little book which gives a really good overview of megaliths in Europe and further afield, and has some excellent illustrations. The appendices are fascinating with a section on runes and even an extract from Tess of the D'Urbervilles.