Professor Challenger and his Lost Neolithic World: The Compelling Story of Alexander Thom and British Archaeoastronomy

Author:   Euan W. MacKie
Publisher:   Archaeopress
ISBN:  

9781784918330


Pages:   158
Publication Date:   04 February 2021
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Professor Challenger and his Lost Neolithic World: The Compelling Story of Alexander Thom and British Archaeoastronomy


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Overview

Professor Challenger and his Lost Neolithic World combines the two great passions of the author’s life: reconstructing the Neolithic mind and constructively challenging consensus in his professional domain. The book is semi-autobiographical, charting the author’s investigation of Alexander Thom’s theories, in particular regarding the alignment of prehistoric monuments in the landscape, across a number of key Neolithic sites from Kintraw to Stonehenge and finally Orkney. It maps his own perspective of the changing reception to Thom’s ideas by the archaeological profession from initial curiosity and acceptance to increasing scepticism. The text presents historical summaries of the various strands of evidence from key Neolithic sites across the UK and Ireland with the compelling evidence from the Ness of Brodgar added as an appendix in final justification of his approach to the subject.

Full Product Details

Author:   Euan W. MacKie
Publisher:   Archaeopress
Imprint:   Archaeopress Access Archaeology
Weight:   0.537kg
ISBN:  

9781784918330


ISBN 10:   1784918334
Pages:   158
Publication Date:   04 February 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Foreword – Dr Doug MacKie ; Preface ; Chapter 1 The origins of the controversy ; Chapter 2 Early hypothesis-testing in western Scotland ; Chapter 3 Decisive tests in Orkney and Ireland ; Chapter 4 Research into Alexander Thom’s fieldwork ; Chapter 5 The probable astronomy and geometry of Stonehenge ; Chapter 6 The Neolithic solar calendar, as seen on a kerb stone at Knowth, Ireland ; Chapter 7 Current aspects of the research situation ; Appendix Is there plausible evidence that the Ness of Brodgar priesthood had any esoteric knowledge? ; Bibliography

Reviews

History matters, and this comprehensive volume sheds light not just on the particular period covered but on how its legacy lives on in colouring our view of archaeoastronomy today. -- Liz Henty * British Archaeology *


Author Information

Euan W. MacKie (1936-2020), was a British archaeologist who graduated with a degree in Archaeology and Anthropology from St John’s College, Cambridge in 1959. He excavated at the Mayan site of Xunantunich in 1959-60 and was then employed at the British Museum Department of Ethnography before becoming Curator and Keeper of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow where he later obtained his PhD. His principal research areas were the brochs and vitrified forts of the Scottish Iron Age, and archaeoastronomy – the investigation of the astronomical knowledge of prehistoric cultures.

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