The World of Stonehenge

Review by HB. This accessible and richly informative book, produced to accompany the World of Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum (CA 384), treats Stonehenge as a ‘gateway’ into the interconnected worlds of British, Irish, and European prehistory. Wooden poles erected 10,000 years ago, near the site of the later monument, are the starting point for a wider exploration of Mesolithic hunter-gatherer beliefs and practices, while Stonehenge itself is presented as emblematic of the ‘new age’ of sedentary living and monument-building that developed in the Neolithic following the inward migration of farmers from mainland Europe. The monument’s construction c.5,000 years