Stonehenge: Making Sense of a Prehistoric Mystery (CBA Archaeology for All) Paperback – Illustrated, 31 Oct. 2015

I liked the book, the not too technical writing and a good overview of the Stonehenge story so far. Of course any book on Stonehenge will be out of date very soon but it is a decent summary of the continuing saga of the old stones. Thanks to Mike Parker-Pearson and his band of dedicated diggers.

There are a few mistakes on pages 114 and 115 of Professor Pearson’s latest book, “Stonehenge: making sense of a prehistoric mystery,” and always being ready to help, I thought I would correct them.Quoting from Pro Pearson’s book: “More recently, archaeologists have shown that the plan of Stonehenge can be laid out simply using ropes,” Unquote. It was Andrew Johnson who set this ball rolling. And this time quoting from Johnson’s book… “The smoother faces of the uprights look inward to the centre of the monument and are set on a true circle of just under 30 meters in diameter.”Both Johnson and I have produced Stonehenge’s ground plan on CAD, and we concur that Stonehenge was an internal device. But I say it was measured as such, and from my CAD plot, I find the internal circumference of the sarsen circle to be 113.097 megalithic yards. And; because we know that the most important Stone Age numbers were the numbers one, two, and three, we can round it off to 113. If we now divide 113 by Pi we get an almost perfect size for its internal diameter of 36 megalithic yards!Note also that 36 megalithic yards entirely agrees with Johnson’s finding of slightly less than 30 meters. (30 divided by a megalithic yard of 0.83m equals 36.14 My).DURRINGTON WALL’S: A careful check of my ground-plot of Durrington’s Southern Circle, which I also have on CAD, and where my measurements were taken through the center of the wooden posts, as Andy Chamberlain suggested we ought, I find Chamberlain’s series comes out, not as neat figures of 70, 90, 110 and 120 long feet as the book claims, but 73.46, 91.5, 110.84 and 122.44. So this is no kind of decimal system that I know of!Just for the record, the major axes of the eggs that make up the Southern Circle, to which Stonehenge is connected by river and two avenues, are: Egg A: 47.5My, with axis aligned on the setting minor moon, Egg B: 43My, but on the setting MAJOR moon, Egg C: 35.5My, again on the setting minor moon, and Egg D: 28.5My, also on the setting minor moon.This is an unscientific book spoiled by several inaccuracies.Copyright © T W Flowers 2015

Informative and well illustrated.However the book does not satisfactorily explain the configuration or purpose of orthostats at Stonehenge.The purpose of Stonehenge was not exclusively astronomical or funereal.See "Stone Circles Explained" by Stephen Childs per Amazon

Great book

I was brought up near this monument and we often went out to see the stones. However we did not really know what we were looking at. This book gives a very clear idea what it is all about. The book is fascinating and very readable. Well recommended.

Brought as a present and was told it's a good read

This is bang up to date with all the latest archaeological results and theories on this amazing area of Salisbury Plain. Well documented in historical progression and development of the site. the landscape, the societies and cultures. Excellent photographic illustrations, developmental plans and reconstruction paintings.

what a wonderful lecturer...he really inspires .....You students should easily get a first with Mike. and yes! found the source of the stones...the real source! thank you.