Europe's Lost Civilization: Exploring the Mysteries of the Megaliths |
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Peter Marshall
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Pages: 352 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0747242038
Pub: Headline Book Publishing
Pub date: 2006-05-01
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 343054
Reader Reviews:
Captivating and thought provoking book (23/24 people found this helpful)
In this captivating book, the author described his journey in a small boat around the Atlantic shores of Europe and into the Mediterranean in order to prove his theory that the megaliths of Europe represent the remnants of a lost civilization. Sailing from Scotland to Malta, he explores the links between the ancient sites in this journey of 4000 nautical miles.
The engaging text draws on archaeology, geology, astronomy, myths and legends to investigate the history of Western Europe between 5000 and 1000 BC. Marshall is of the opinion that the sea and certain rivers united the scattered communities of this mysterious civilization that emerged along the Atlantic seaboard and extended all the way down to Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica an the Balearic Islands, perhaps even to Crete.
Along the way he visits all the well-known sites like Skara Brae, Stonehenge, Newgrange Mound, Carnac and investigates the rock art of Galicia, the dolmens of Antequara and the ruins of Minorca, amongst others. He concludes that this civilization was a settled culture with a high artistic sensibility, a rich symbolic language and a spiritual vision; an advanced society that was familiar with the sciences of astronomy, mathematics and engineering.
Marshall refers to the work of Marija Gimbutas and the interesting book Lost Civilisations Of The Stone Age by Richard Rudgley. He explores the artistic symbolism in detail, especially the circle, maze and spiral that are found throughout this area.
The book includes copious notes, a bibliography divided into General, The British Isles, France, Iberia, Italy and Malta. There are 20 full colour plates plus many maps and diagrammes. The book concludes with a thorough index. Europe's Lost Civilization is a fascinating book on many levels and I highly recommend it.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Europe -> Pre-500
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Archaeology -> By Period -> Prehistoric
Books -> Subjects -> History -> General