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School of Archaeology & Ancient History


Course AR3015

SAMPLE Lecture Notes (2003)



Photograph of Glengorm standing stones, Isle of Mull, Scotland Copyright © Clive Ruggles, University of Leicester.

Lectures 4 & 5: Archaeoastronomy in Britain and Ireland: key ideas, issues and themes

Objectives

To familiarise you with some of the claims relating to astronomy that have appeared recently in the mainstream archaeological literature, and to introduce you to some of the interpretative issues that they raise.

The case studies will be arranged roughly chronologically and span the Neolithic through to the Iron Age.

Main readings

Chapter 8 in Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland.

Further information and supporting materials

Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain and Ireland

See chapter 8 of APBI for pointers to detailed references on particular topics covered here. For a shorter overview see my chapter in Prehistoric Ritual and Religion, edited by Alex Gibson and Derek Simpson (Sutton, 1998).

On patterns of formal deposition at Stonehenge, see Joshua Pollard and Clive Ruggles, "Shifting perceptions: spatial order, cosmology, and patterns of deposition at Stonehenge", Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 11(1) (2001), 69–90.

A recent publication relevant to a number of issues raised in the lecture is the paper by myself and Gordon Barclay entitled "Cosmology, calendars and society in Neolithic Orkney: a rejoinder to Euan MacKie" in Antiquity, 74 (2000), 62–74.

Photograph of the "Slaughter Stone" and Heelstone at Stonehenge Copyright © Graeme Barker

Astronomy and Landscape

Although not covered in any detail in lectures, the question of how astronomical concerns relate to broader issues of landscape perception and the spatial correlates of human activity in the landscape, including monument construction, is well illustrated by the North Mull project which is covered in some detail in Chapter 7 of APBI. See also these pictures. Also relevant to these questions is the mid-Ulster complex of stone circles and rows, a preliminary report on which can be found in pp. 51-71 of Astronomy, Cosmology and Landscape (see Core texts).

The Iron Age and beyond

On Fiskerton, a popular article by Mike Pitts entitled "Altar of the Druids" appeared last year in New Scientist (16 Feb 2002). One of our Masters students (Serena Fredrick) worked on the problem for her dissertation project last summer. The archaeological report on the site is Fiskerton: Iron Age Timber Causeway with Iron Age and Roman Votive Offerings by Naomi Field and Mike Parker Pearson (Oxbow Books, 2002).

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