Seahenge: a quest for life and death in Bronze Age Britain - Softcover

Pryor, Francis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007101929 ISBN 13: 9780007101924

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2008

Synopsis

A lively and authoritative investigation into the lives of our ancestors, based on the revolution in the field of Bronze Age archaeology which has been taking place in Norfolk and the Fenlands over the last twenty years, and in which the author has played a central role.

One of the most haunting and enigmatic archaeological discoveries of recent times was the uncovering in 1998 at low tide of the so-called Seahenge off the north coast of Norfolk. This circle of wooden planks set vertically in the sand, with a large inverted tree-trunk in the middle, likened to a ghostly ‘hand reaching up from the underworld’, has now been dated back to around 2020 BC. The timbers are currently (and controversially) in the author’s safekeeping at Flag Fen.

Francis Pryor and his wife (an expert in ancient wood-working and analysis) have been at the centre of Bronze Age fieldwork for nearly 30 years, piecing together the way of life of Bronze Age people, their settlement of the landscape, their religion and rituals. The famous wetland sites of the East Anglian Fens have preserved ten times the information of their dryland counterparts like Stonehenge and Avebury, in the form of pollen, leaves, wood, hair, skin and fibre found ‘pickled’ in mud and peat.

Seahenge demonstrates how much Western civilisation owes to the prehistoric societies that existed in Europe in the last four millennia BC.

About this title

Synopsis:

An investigation into the lives of our prehistoric ancestors, focusing on the revolution in Bronze Age archaeology which has been taking place since the 1980s, and in which the author has played a central role. One of the most haunting and enigmatic archaeological discoveries of recent times was the uncovering in 1998 at low tide of the so-called Seahenge on the north coast of Norfolk. This circle of wooden planks set vertically in the sand, with a large inverted tree-trunk in the middle, likened to a ghostly "hand reaching up from the underworld", has now been dated to around 2020 BC. It focused national attention on archaeology to an extent not seen for many years, and the issues raised by its removal and preservation made it a "cause celebre". Francis Pryor has been at the centre of British archaeological fieldwork for nearly 30 years, piecing together the way of life of Bronze Age people, their settlement of the landscape, their religion and rituals.

The famous wetland sites of the East Anglian Fens have preserved ten times the information of their dryland counterparts like Stonehenge and Avebury, in the form of pollen, leaves, wood, hair, skin and fibre found "pickled" in mud and peat. "Seahenge" demonstrates how much Western civilization owes to the prehistoric societies that existed in Europe in the last four millennia BC.

About the Author:

Francis Pryor is President of the Council for British Archaeology and a prominent field archaeologist who has devoted his professional life to the excavation of wetland landscapes in eastern England. He has been a central figure in the so-called ‘Wetland Revolution’ of British archaeology, and has published a number of specialist monographs on his discoveries. He appears frequently on TV’s Time Team; this is his first book for a wide general audience.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0007101929
• ISBN 13: 9780007101924
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 392