The stone circles of Britain and Ireland are the subject of a new book published next week.
Stone Circles: A Field Guide is the latest collaboration between the institute’s Professor Colin Richards and Cardiff University’s Professor Vicki Cummings and looks at 424 key stone circle sites.
Organised by region, the book sets out the features of the megalithic monuments, including their landscape position, construction, and physical properties.
Taking stock of new research and recent excavations, the authors present new insights on the chronology, composition, and roles of different circles to transform our understanding the sites.
Fully illustrated with photographs, maps, and plans, Stone Circles: A Field Guide is published by Yale University Press and is available in softback from Tuesday, September 10, priced £30.
Read Current Archaeology magazine’s review here.
Colin is professor of archaeology at the UHI Archaeology Institute and the author of numerous books, including Building the Great Stone Circles of the North.
He has excavated sites across Orkney, and beyond, including the Neolithic settlements at Barnhouse, Stonehall, Wideford Hill, Crossiecrown and Smerquoy and at the Ring of Brodgar and Vestrafiold.
Professor of Neolithic archaeology at Cardiff University, Vicki is the author of several works, including The Neolithic of Britain and Ireland. She is currently co-director of the excavation of a Neolithic chambered cairn in Holm, Orkney.
This is their second book together, following 2021’s Monuments in the Making, which looked at dolmens.
“This attractive and colourfully illustrated book is what we have been waiting for. It is both an accessible field guide and an excellent state-of-the-art overview of our understanding of these most enigmatic prehistoric monuments. It will have a place on the bookshelves of experts and enthusiasts alike.”
Professor Mike Parker Pearson, author of Stonehenge
“The indispensable new guide to stone circles in Britain and Ireland by two leading prehistorians: packed with up-to-date interpretation and information including instructions on how to find even the most remote sites, sensitive to the beauties of landscapes and settings, and good for armchair browsing as well.”
Professor Alasdair Whittle, author of The Times of Their Lives
