Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland
by Clive L. N. Ruggles
Category: Science

Do prehistoric stone monuments in Britain and Ireland incorporate deliberate astronomical alignments, and if so, what is their purpose and meaning? Here, for the first time this topic, a subject of long-standing controversy between astronomers and archaeologists, is approached from a perspective that incorporates both disciplines. The author establishes the importance of studies of astronomy in the context of broader questions of cosmology, ideology, and cognition that are of central interest to prehistorians at the beginning of the twenty-first century. He also makes clear the necessity of multi-disciplinary perspectives in tackling problems of this nature.