Prehistoric Astronomy and Ritual - Shire Publications - Paperback

Stonehenge was not an observatory used by druidical astronomer-priests. It was, instead, a monument in which the moon and the sun and the dead were joined together. In this book the author, a well-known archaeologist, explains how people in the British Isles, four thousand or more years ago, identified life and death with the cycle of midwinter and midsummer and with the risings and settings of the sun and moon. The book describes how astronomical customs developed in the British Isles. Unlike other works about 'megalithic astronomy', technical explanations about azimuths and declinations are kept to their simplest. The emphasis here is upon people rather than perturbations and eclipses. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Aubrey Burl's interest has always been in the early societies of prehistoric Britain, particularly in their ritual practices. Other titles for Shire by this author are: Prehistoric Stone Circles and Prehistoric Henges.Burl, Aubrey is the author of 'Prehistoric Astronomy and Ritual - Shire Publications - Paperback' with ISBN 9780747806141 and ISBN 0747806144.