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Of all structural or material remains from later British prehistory, roundhouses are probably the most archetypical, with a great range of regional variants in terms of ground plans and structural materials used. This study rethinks the archaeology of roundhouses, based on the latest development-led research excavation.
List of contents
- 1: Landmarks in roundhouse studies
- 2: Twenty-first century archaeology: radical change
- 3: Analyzing and interpreting timber roundhouses
- 4: Analyzing and interpeting stone-built houses
- 5: Roundhouses in context: settlements and landscape
- 6: Archaeotectural alternatives
- 7: Regional diversity in Britain and beyond
- 8: Chronology, origins, and aftermath
- 9: Roundhouses; space, time, and social use
About the author
D. W. Harding graduated from Keble College, Oxford in English Language and Literature before gaining his D. Phil under the supervision of Professor Christopher Hawkes. He was temporary Assistant Keeper in the Ashmolean Museum before being appointed lecturer in Archaeology at Durham University in 1966. He was Abercromby Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at Edinburgh University (1977-2007), serving as Dean of Arts (1983-6) and Vice-Principal of the University (1988-91). He has excavated later prehistoric sites from Wessex to the Western Isles, and had a particular interest in aerial archaeology, holding a current pilot's license for nearly thirty years.
Summary
Of all structural or material remains from later British prehistory, roundhouses are probably the most archetypical, with a great range of regional variants in terms of ground plans and structural materials used. This study rethinks the archaeology of roundhouses, based on the latest development-led research excavation.
Additional text
While Rethinking Roundhouses provides a useful snapshot of the state of knowledge on the subject, its most exciting aspect lies in the author's suggestion that we should reconceptualise roundhouses in terms of both design and function. Rethinking Roundhouses will deservedly find its way on to the shelves of university libraries...I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in architecture and settlement in late prehistoric Britain.
