Stonehenge: A New Understanding. Solving the Mysteries of the Greatest Stone Age Monument

Description

By Mike Parker Pearson and the Stonehenge Riverside Project. First published in Great Britain in 2012 as "Stonehenge: Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery' by Simon & Schuster. Stonehenge stands as an enduring link to our prehistoric ancestors, yet the secrets it has guarded for thousands of years have long eluded us. Until now, the millions of enthusiasts who flock to the iconic site have made do with mere speculation - about Stonehenge's celestial significance, human sacrifice, and even aliens and druids. One would think that the numerous research expeditions at Stonehenge had left no stone unturned. Yet, before the Stonehenge Riverside Project - a hugely ambitious, seven-year dig by today's top archaeologists - all previous digs combined had only investigated a fraction of the monument, and many records from those earlier expeditions are either inaccurate or incomplete. 'Stonehenge: A New Understanding' rewrites the story. From 2003 to 2009, author Mike Parker Pearson led the Stonehenge Riverside Project, the most comprehensive excavation ever conducted around Stonehenge. The project unearthed a wealth of fresh evidence that had gone untouched since prehistory. Parker Pearson uses that evidence to present a paradigm-shifting theory of the true significance that Stonehenge held for its builders - and mines his field notes to give you a you-are-there view of the dirt, drama, and thrilling discoveries of this history-changing archaeological dig. Map Introduction 1. The Man from Madagascar 2. A Brief History of Stonehenge 3. Starting the Project 4. Putting the Trench in the Right Place 5. The Houses and the Henge 6. Was This Where the Stonehenge Builders Lived? 7. The Great Trilithon and the Date of the Sarsens 8. Mysterious Earthworks: The Landscape of Stonehenge 9. Mysteries of the River 10. The Druids and Stonehenge 11. The Aubrey Holes 12. Digging at Stonehenge 13. The People of Stonehenge and the Beaker People 14. Bluestonehenge: Back to the River 15. Why Stonehenge Is Where it Is 16. Origins of the Bluestones 17. Origins of the Sarsens 18. Earthworms and Dates 19. The New Sequence for Stonehenge 20. Stonehenge: The View from Afar 21. The End of Stonehenge PLATES Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Illustrations Index About the Author