Friday 8 August 2014

Read in 2014 - 28: Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders

A work of non-fiction first published in 1912, “Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders” gives an overview of what was the state of knowledge on the subject at that time.

Thomas Eric Peet (1882 - 1934) goes about his topic in a systematic manner, starting by clarifying the meaning and differences of the various megalithic buildings such as dolmen, menhir, cromlech, allĂ©e couverte and many more. He presents the various types of monuments by country or region without neglecting the assumed time frames during which they were built and used. Also, he explains why certain assumptions were made, and presents arguments for and against differing theories regarding the origin and purpose of each type. Last but not least, he writes about the builders themselves – what kind of people were they, how did they live and work together, why did they make such enormous efforts. 
In all this, he never fails to caution the reader that almost nothing can be proven with absolute certainty, but nearly everything is based on conjecture. He cites the work of colleagues and predecessors and gives a long list for further reading. The book Is richly illustrated and nicely divided into chapters – in short, a very good example of non-fiction, understandable for the interested non-scientist but not beneath the professional reader. I found it - of course - as a free ebook at Amazon's Kindle store.



 
Photo and plan of the megalithic sanctuary of Mnaidra, Malta.

Nowadays we have so many computer-aided methods in archaeology; it is not difficult anymore to date a certain structure and to connect findings from one place with others. But still, If you think about it, a lot of it is guesswork and conjecture – as long as a people has not left behind any written testimony of their times and lives, we can never be entirely sure of our “facts” to be true (and even then they can be questionable. For example, in medieval times it was common practice to greatly exaggerate the number of soldiers and ships a ruler commanded, which makes it necessary to treat documents about battles with caution).

About the author: Wikipedia does not say much about him as a person, but from the dry dates one can assume that he did lead a life dedicated to science, namely Egyptology. He was Professor on that subject at Liverpool University – where my niece has started her studies in Egyptology two years ago. His birthday was the 12th of August – same as my Mum, who will be 70 next week!

8 comments:

  1. My husband "drooled" when I read this to him, he loves reading about the standing stones, I bet we've visited more than 50 sites in England. He sent me directly to Amazon to get the book. It was free for Kindle, but he wanted the book so I ordered it.

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    1. Oh I'm glad to know your husband is a kindred spirit! I love archaelogy and history - the longer ago, the better, and I find it fascinating that we have so many mute stone witnesses from back then but still don't know all that much about our ancestors, because they had not begun writing yet. I hope the book contains all the illustrations - my Kindle edition didn't, but I found all the pictures in an online-version elsewhere.

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  2. One of the most interesting books I read about this subject is about the building of the amazing Avebury stones. It's called "Prehistoric Avebury" by Aubrey Burl and I found it totally fascinating, even though I am not usually overly interested in prehistoric things.

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    1. Thank you for the recommendation, I'll see if I can find "Prehistoric Avebury", sounds like a book I'd find fascinating, too.
      Not sure whether you already were reading my blog back then, but in 2011, I wrote this and wonder whether you know the series:
      http://librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.de/2011/12/read-in-2011-28-secrets-of-lost-empires.html

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  3. Sounds like something that will interest my Sweetie, the archaeologist, as well as me!

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    1. Make sure you get an edition with illustrations, if you want to download or buy this book; the author very often refers to a map or plan in his explanations.

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  4. I think I would enjoy this book very much!
    And I hope that you will have a big party for your Mum for her 70th birthday, the "sock knitting maniac"!!
    LOVE my socks that she knitted and my in-laws love theirs too!! xx

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    1. Yes, I think you would, Kay.
      Of course there will be a big "do" for my Mum's 70th birthday on Tuesday! It will be rather posh - as opposed to the more "rustic" parties she has hosted at the allotment for the past years - but she deserves the very best! Just wait for the pictures, I am determined to take loads :-) (And it is a great excuse for me to wear one of two new dresses I bought a week or so ago...)

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