The lives of prehistoric monuments in Iron Age, Roman and medieval Europe

Description

By contributing to current theoretical debates on materiality, landscape, and place-making, The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe seeks to overcome disciplinary boundaries between prehistory and history, and highlight the long-term, genealogical nature of our engagement with the world."--pub. desc.;Part I: Introduction -- 1. The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Europe: An Introduction / Marta Díaz-Guardamino, Leonardo García Sanjuán, and David Wheatley -- 2. Before the Standing Stones: From Land Forms to Religious Attitudes and Monumentality / Joyce E. Salisbury -- Part II: Case Studies -- 3. Kings' Jelling: Monuments with Outstanding Biographies in the Heart of Denmark / Steen Hvass -- 4. Icons of Antiquity: Remaking Megalithic Monuments in Ireland / Gabriel Cooney -- 5. Beowulf and Archaeology: Megaliths Imagined and Encountered in Early Medieval Europe / Howard Williams -- 6. Myth, Memento and Memory: Avebury (Wiltshire, England) / David Wheatley -- 7. Les Pierres de Memoire: The Life History of two Statue-Menhirs from Guernsey, Channel Islands / Heather Sebire -- 8. Back and Forward: Neolithic Standing Stones and Iron Age Stelae in French Brittany / Luc Laporte, Marie-Yvane Daire, Gwenolé Kerdivel and Elías López-Romero -- 9. Enduring Past: Megalithic Tombs of Brittany and the Roman Occupation in Western France / Mara Vejby -- 10. The Outstanding Biographies of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman and Medieval Spain / Leonardo García Sanjuán and Marta Díaz-Guardamino -- 11. Megaliths and Holy Places in the Genesis of the Kingdom of Asturias (North of Spain, AD 718-910) / Miguel Ángel de Blas Cortina -- 12. Life and Death of Copper Age Monoliths at Ossimo Anvòia (Val Camonica, Italian Central Alps), 3000 BC-AD 1950 / Francesco Fedele -- 13. Biography of a Hill -- Novi Pazar in South Western Serbia / Stas̆a Babić -- 14. What Happens When Tombs Die? The Historical Appropriation of the Cretan Bronze Age Cemeteries / Borja Legarra Herrero -- 15. Roman Dolmens? The Megalithic Necropolises of Eastern Maghreb Revisited / Joan Sanmartí, Nabil Kallala, Rafel Jornet, M. Carme Belarte, Joan Canela, Sarhane Chérif, Jordi Campillo, David Montanero, Xavier Bermúdez, Thaïs Fadrique, Víctor Revilla, Joan Ramon, and Moncef Ben Moussa -- Part III: Recapitulation and Conclusions -- 16. The Plot against the Past: Reuse and Modification of Ancient Mortuary Monuments as Persuasive Efforts of Appropriation / Estella Weiss-Krejci -- 17. Piercing together a Past / Richard Bradley.;The essays in this collection examine the life-histories of carefully chosen megalithic monuments, stelae and statue-menhirs, and rock art sites of various European and Mediterranean regions during the Iron Age and Roman and Medieval times. By focusing on the concrete interaction between people, monuments, and places, the volume offers an innovative outlook on a variety of debated issues. Prominent among these is the role of ancient remains in the creation, institutionalization, contestation, and negotiation of social identities and memories, as well as their relationship with political economy in early historic European societies.;"This volume explores the pervasive influence exerted by some prehistoric monuments on European social life over thousands of years, and reveals how they can act as a node linking people through time, possessing huge ideological and political significance. Through the advancement of theoretical approaches and scientific methodologies, archaeologists have been able to investigate how some of these monuments provide resources to negotiate memories, identities, and power and social relations throughout European history.