A fresh look at the World Heritage Site that includes Avebury henge, West Kennet long barrow and Silbury Hill. Mann combines archaeology, astronomy and anthropology to offer an original and convincing account of the building of these extraordinary Neolithic monuments. The ancient Britons were inspired by a profound knowledge of the heavens when they erected the monumental stones of Avebury. Mann throws light on the motive behind the creation of its awe-inspiring mounds and megaliths by demonstrating that they were aligned to the cycles of the Sun, Moon and stars. This book will help visitors and readers to see Avebury in a wholly new light - the light of the heavenly bodies that guided its Neolithic builders. Avebury Cosmos will reawaken our ancient reverence for the stars and deepen our respect for the extraordinary abilities and forgotten knowledge of our prehistoric ancestors.

Published in 1914, this two-volume biography celebrates the achievements of the banker, politician and scientist Sir John Lubbock (1834-1913).

For one brief moment in the third millennium BCE the galaxy levelled around the horizon, bringing into view stars that would not be visible again in the northern hemisphere for twenty thousand years. The spectacular Southern Cross dominated the night sky, and it is the contention of this book that this event was marked by the Neolithic people of Britain by monuments such as Avebury. Avebury Henge marries archaeology with astronomy to show that the people who built Avebury, West Kennet long barrow and Silbury Hill aligned them not only with the cycles of the sun, moon and planets, but also with the stars.

Avebury is one of the few places in southern Britain to have acted as a focus for ceremonial and ritual activity during the Neolithic and early Bronze Age. The rich collection of archaeological sites, some visible and some buried, exerted physical and cultural influence on the landscape and environment for millennia. This volume forms the first formal research agenda for a World Heritage Site and is the result of several years' work by leading specialists. An introductory discussion of the specific research requirements of such an extraordinary site is followed by a Resource Assessment, a Research Agenda and a study of Research Strategies. These sections are arranged chronologically and cover the Palaeolithic through to the Saxon and medieval periods. The final section examines the methods and techniques used to gather data. These include geophysical survey, fieldwalking, aerial survey, evaluation and excavation, GIS survey and metal detecting. Contributors include Andrew J Lawson, Rosemary M J Cleal, Bryn Walters, Andrew Reynolds, Chris Gingell, Mark Corney, Gill Swanton, Peter Fowler, Michael J Allen, Mark Bowden and Nick Burton.

Avebury stone circle is over 4000 years old. It is one of the largest prehistoric henges in Britain, and has been designated as a World Heritage Site. This is an account of Avebury's ceremonial sites, ancient avenues and barrows.