Cumbria's Prehistoric Monuments (eBook)
224 Seiten
The History Press (Verlag)
978-0-7509-9763-8 (ISBN)
ADAM MORGAN IBBOTSON is an author, award-winning filmmaker, and landscape archaeologist specialising in the study of Britain's prehistoric monuments. Born, raised, and having worked for decades in the Lake District National Park, Ibbotson is well accustomed to traversing and photographing awe-inspiring archaeological landscapes. He now lives in North Yorkshire.
A QUICK GUIDE
BEFORE YOU START
Since the seventeenth century, academics and institutions across Europe have worked to further our understanding of our prehistoric past. When speculating upon relatively simple stone arrangements, it was oftentimes necessary to coin new terms to differentiate between them. Therefore, a unique archaeological jargon has emerged. Take the paragraph below as an example:
A mid to late Neolithic megalith stands at the centre of the henge monument, next to which is an Early Bronze Age kerbed cairn. Decorated with intricate cup marks, its position at the end of the avenue makes it the perfect spot to gaze out onto the cairn field.
If you understand this paragraph, you should turn the page and continue. But for the uninitiated, please do take note of the small glossary on the following page.
Throughout this book, the author will explain the historical context behind each site and explain their proposed functions. There may be times when it is necessary to refer to this glossary, and that is without shame. Despite appearing crude on their surface, these monuments are vestiges of a complex prehistoric society we have yet to fully understand.
In describing these sites, the author will be crediting those who have studied and explored Cumbria’s prehistoric monuments. However, there may be times when phrases along the lines of ‘some speculate’ and ‘many have theorised’ are used. In such cases, complex multi-source theories are condensed into small summaries for the sake of easy readability. The sources for such theories are written in the bibliography at the back of the book, which lists all texts referenced, as well as the databases accessed during research.
Indeed, this book does not attach undeniable dates and answers to each of the monuments listed. Instead, it aims to provide information on what is known about each site, and the theories this has produced. I would advise the academically inclined among the readership to explore the avenues of my research (i.e., check my sources).
Author’s Note: Often, prehistoric monuments are situated in hard to access areas, be it physically or legally. This book serves to inform the reader of the extent of the prehistoric monuments in Cumbria; it is not an invitation to trespass on or disturb any of the areas detailed in its pages. Do not trample cairns, do not lift stones, and do not use metal detectors at these sites; doing so is against the law, and is generally frowned upon. Do not do it.
| TERM | DEFINITION |
| Barrow | Any variety of mound intended to inter the dead. Same as a ‘tumulus’. |
| Bell beaker | A non-funerary pottery vessel dating to the Early Bronze Age, typically 12–30cm tall with a fluted top. |
| Burial cairn | A mound of stones created to mark burials. |
| Burial circle | A stone circle with a central burial cairn. |
| Cairn-field | An expanse of land with several prehistoric cairns. |
| Cap stone | A stone that covers a cist burial. |
| Cist | A small, stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Typically found within burial cairns. |
| Crag | A steep or rugged cliff or rock face. |
| Cremation cemetery | An area where bodies were cremated and buried, either in coffins or cists. |
| Crop marks | Patterns found in crop fields, due to differing levels of soil depth. Lighter marks are caused by shallow soils, darker marks signify trenches or pits. |
| Cup and ring marks | A style of rock art typical of the early to mid-Neolithic (3800–2750 BC) consisting of chiselled rings and dots on a rockface. |
| Cursus monument | Vast, cigar-shaped earthen enclosures created near the beginning of the Neolithic (est. 3800 BC). |
| Dyke | A man-made trench, often used in prehistoric and medieval times to delineate land boundaries. |
| Flint | A form of quartz used throughout the stone age to sculpt cutting tools. |
| Henge | An earthwork typical of the Neolithic period, consisting of a roughly circular or oval-shaped bank with an internal ditch surrounding a central flat area. |
| Hut circle | The foundation of a prehistoric roundhouse, typically circular stone walls with a single entrance and a cobbled interior. |
| Kerb stones | Stones holding a mound of stone or earth in place around its outside. |
| Polished axe | A well-honed stone axe typically dating to the Neolithic period, although earlier examples have been found. |
| Portal | A term used to define large stones that appear to form an entrance. |
| Solstice | The day when the sun reaches its highest point. This occurs twice a year, in summer and winter, marking both the longest (summer) and shortest (winter) days of the year. |
| Stone avenue | Two rows of stone erected parallel within the landscape. |
| Stone circle | A circular arrangement of stones. |
| Stone row | A single row of stones that forms a line in the landscape. |
| Survivor’s bias | A logical error made by concentrating on items that survive today, ignoring non-surviving examples. |
| Tumulus/tumuli | Any variety of mound intended to inter the dead. Same as a ‘barrow’. |
| MOUND VARIETY | DESCRIPTION |
| Kerbed barrow | A style of burial monument common in the Early Bronze Age (2500–1800 BC). A circle of stones around the base of a mound of earth or stone. |
| Bowl barrow | An earth-covered tomb with a resemblance to an upturned bowl (3200 BC–AD 700). |
| Clearance cairn | An uneven heap of stones removed from farmland. Does not contain burials. |
| Long barrow | A long earthen tumulus. Typically made during the early Neolithic (4000–3200 BC). |
| Long cairn | A rare long stone tumulus. Made during the early Neolithic (3800–3200 BC). |
| Passage tomb | A mid-Neolithic burial mound, with a narrow access passage made of large stones (3400–2800 BC). |
| Platform cairn | An Early Bronze Age burial cairn; low lying with a flat top. Possibly a converted ring cairn. |
| Ring cairn | A circular enclosure made from loose stones, can be kerbed. Sometimes known as ‘cremation cemeteries’. If topped with a stone circle, they are known as ‘embanked stone circles’. |
| Round cairn | Large stone mounds covering single or multiple burials. Typically made during the Bronze Age (2500–800 BC). |
| STONE CIRCLE VARIETY | DESCRIPTION |
| Cumbrian Circle | Large uncluttered megalithic enclosures, similar to henges, and formed using megalithic stones. Typically aligned to the mid-winter solstice sunrise or sunset. |
| Burial Circle | An Early Bronze Age enclosure used during funerary activity. A small stone circle approximately 12–16m in diameter, surrounding a small burial cairn. A variant of a ring cairn local to the west coast, similar to the concentric stone circles of eastern Cumbria. |
| Concentric Circle | An Early Bronze Age enclosure used during funerary activity. A stone circle at the centre of another. The central circle is always a kerbed cairn. A variant of a ring cairn local to the Eden Valley, similar to the burial circles of eastern Cumbria. |
| Embanked Stone Circle | An Early Bronze Age enclosure used during funerary activity. A cobbled ring of loose stones with a circle of standing stones erupting from the top. |
| Kerbed Ring Cairn | An Early Bronze Age enclosure used during funerary activity. A cobbled ring of loose stones kerbed on their inner and outer circumference with megalithic stones. |
THE NEOLITHIC – 4200–2500 BC
NEO: NEW OR OF RECENT MANUFACTURE.
LITHIC: OF THE NATURE OF OR RELATING TO STONE.
What defines the...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 16.7.2021 |
|---|---|
| Verlagsort | London |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Regional- / Landesgeschichte |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Archäologie | |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Vor- und Frühgeschichte | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik | |
| Technik ► Architektur | |
| Wirtschaft | |
| Schlagworte | ancient Britain • ancient relics • archaeological landscapes • archaeology in cumbria • Bronze Age • castlerigg • cumbrian history • history of cumbria • history of cumbria, cumbrian history, stone monuments, megalithic britain, megalithic cumbria, stone age, bronze age, iron age, ancient relics, archaeological landscapes, archaeology in cumbria, megalithic sites, ancient britain, prehistoric britain, monument diagrams, castlerigg, swinside, long meg • Iron Age • Long Meg • megalithic britain • megalithic cumbria • Megalithic sites • monument diagrams • prehistoric Britain • Stone Age • stone monuments • swinside |
| ISBN-10 | 0-7509-9763-X / 075099763X |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-7509-9763-8 / 9780750997638 |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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