David asked,
<<While working in Ireland this summer, I've had a chance to hike around some of the neolithic tombs in the Burren region. It's amazing that you can hike right up to these 5,000 year old tombs, without another soul in sight,. . . I'm wondering if anyone here could recommend a good general text or monograph about that time period. >>
The Neolithic (new stone age) as opposed to the Paleolithic begins c. 10,000 BC and lasts until a culture begins using copper or bronze (then iron). In the Near East and Europe the transition to copper takes place c. 5000 BC, but in the Far East, it lasts until c. 2000 BC, and in the Americas (and I think Japan) the Neolithic continues until c. 500 BC.
An easy interesting book to get an overview of this period around the world is The Atlas of Early Man by Jacquetta Hawkes. An easy interesting book dealing with the megaliths and the people who built them, which you mention, is The Monument Builders by Robert Wernick. For books about the Neolithic period in various countries, check the first volume of various Cambridge histories, eg Cambridge History of India, Cambridge History of Japan, Cambridge Ancient History (which is about the Near East), etc. Books in the archaeology section will also give you information on the Neolithic in various areas.
Paul
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Received on Tue Jul 4 15:06:00 2006
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