Megasites in Prehistoric Europe: Where Strangers and Kinsfolk Met

Megasites in Prehistoric Europe: Where Strangers and Kinsfolk Met
ISBN-10
1009090666
ISBN-13
9781009090667
Category
Social Science
Pages
178
Language
English
Published
2022-10-27
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Authors
John Chapman, Bisserka Gaydarska

Description

This is an Element about some of the largest sites known in prehistoric Europe – sites so vast that they often remain undiscussed for lack of the theoretical or methodological tools required for their understanding. Here, the authors use a relational, comparative approach to identify not only what made megasites but also what made megasites so special and so large. They have selected a sample of megasites in each major period of prehistory – Neolithic, Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages – with a detailed examination of a single representative megasite for each period. The relational approach makes explicit comparisons between smaller, more 'normal' sites and the megasites using six criteria – scale, temporality, deposition / monumentality, formal open spaces, performance and congregational catchment. The authors argue that many of the largest European prehistoric megasites were congregational places.

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