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Books on The Neolithic

The Neolithic in Britain is perhaps the most interesting period of prehistory – a period of firsts. It is the time when the first monuments are created, the first buildings appear, the first pottery is made and the first signs of agriculture are seen. In these books some of those fundamental changes to ancient ways of life are detailed and discussed.

Early Humans

Landscapes Revealed: Geophysical Survey In The Heart of Neolithic Orkney

Brend, Amanda et al (Eds) Landscapes Revealed: geophysical survey in the heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Area 2002-2011. Oxford: Oxbow Books. 2020. A new and stunning look at the results of some of the most extensive survey work in Scotland.

Neanderthals among mammoths: excavations at Lynford Quarry, Norfolk, UK

The Old Stones: A Field Guide to the Megalithic Sites of Britain and Ireland

Burnham, Andy, and Michael Parker Pearson, eds. The Old Stones: A Field Guide to the Megalithic Sites of Britain and Ireland: The Megalithic Portal. London: Watkins, 2018. An accessible guide to the Megaliths around Britain be they stone circles, standing stones or even the occasional oddity.

La Cotte de la St. Brelade 1961-1978

The Neolithic of Britain and Ireland

Cummings, Vicki. The Neolithic of Britain and Ireland. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY: Routledge, 2017. A good general introductory text to the subject.

The Oxford Illustrated History of Prehistoric Europe

Orcadia: Land, Sea and Stone in Neolithic Orkney

Edmonds, Mark. Orcadia: Land, Sea and Stone in Neolithic Orkney. Head of Zeus. 2019. Another really interesting work by one of Britain’s leading archaeologists of the Neolithic.

Prehistoric Britain 2nd Edition

The tale of the axe: how the Neolithic revolution transformed Britain

Miles, David. The tale of the axe: how the Neolithic revolution transformed Britain. London: Thames & Hudson, 2016. A look at how one tool resulted in such significant change in the landscape.

Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story

Neolithic Britain: The Transformation of Social Worlds

Ray, Keith, and Julian Thomas. Neolithic Britain: The Transformation of Social Worlds, Oxford University Press, 2020. A new book on the impact of a new cultural world between 4,000 and 2,000 BCE.

Origins and Revolutions: Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory.

The Megalithic Monuments of Britain and Ireland

Scarre, Christopher. The Megalithic Monuments of Britain and Ireland. London ; New York: Thames & Hudson, 2007. More on the monuments that came to define a new age.

Settling the Earth: The Archaeology of Deep Human History.

Between The Wind and The Water: World Heritage Orkney

Wickham-Jones, Caroline. Between the wind and the water: World Heritage Orkney. London: Thames & Hudson, 2016. The Neolithic in Orkney was the setting for some of the most significant changes in the social world of the people who lived there and far beyond.

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