Flag Fen: Life and Death of a Prehistoric Landscape

by Francis Pryor

The fens of eastern England form a very distinct environment which produced particular patterns of prehistoric occupation. This account of the discovery and excavation of the now world-famous Bronze Age site near Peterborough begins with an overall survey of the archaeology of the area and then describes the first farmers of the Neolithic period and the houses and habitations of the early Bronze Age. Flag Fen, with its massive timber platform and an avenue of posts with votive deposits, dates from the later Bronze Age. Dr Pryor's reassessment of the site concludes with a brief look at the Iron Age, the coming of the Romans, and the modern destruction of this precious landscape.

Genres: History, Archaeology

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Francis Manning Marlborough Pryor MBE (born 13 January 1945) is a British archaeologist who is famous for his role in the discovery of Flag Fen, a Bronze Age archaeological site near Peterborough, and for his frequent appearances on the Channel 4 television series Time Team.

He has now retired from full-time field archaeology, but still appears on television and writes books as well as being a working farmer. His specialities are in the Bronze and Iron Ages.

His first novel, Lifers’ Club, is due to be published in 2014.

Reviews

[Steven Kuehn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars; an interesting read on a fascinating archaeological site. Unfortunately the author focused too much on the history of investigations at the site over time (with some background on archaeology and prehistory) and less on analysis and interpretation. Hard to tell if the book was marketed for professional archaeologists (not enough detail; have to consult the technical reports for that level of detail), avocational archaeologists, or the general public. A chapter on daily life at the site, at various points in time, would have made it much more endearing for the general reader. Good photos, nice maps, and some drawings of the reconstructed settlement. A nice intro for the casual reader, but leaves them wanting more, I would think.

[J Grimsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book for a non-archaeologist wanting to read about Flag Fen - Pictures and diagrams most useful

[Rhiannon Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful guide to the excavation and archaeology of Flag Fen - mostly arranged chronologically, from the first farmers to the Iron Age. The bulk of the interesting finds are Bronze Age, with early and late periods within that time.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having read this book I feel like I know no more about Flag Fen and the people who built it than I did when I started. It's a ritual site where people deposited things for a purpose probably to do with death. The book jumps wildly between subjects and this makes it very unclear. Quite a lot doesn't seem relevant and I have no idea what the aim of the book was and I don't think Francis Pryor does either. There is also too much of the author.