Rocks of ages: tempo and time in megalithic monuments

Scarre, Chris

doi:10.1177/1461957110370731

Rocks of ages: tempo and time in megalithic monuments

Scarre, Chris

Authors

Chris Scarre

Abstract

Chronology remains a problematic area in prehistoric archaeology but the increasing number and precision of radiometric dates begin to suggest patterns that can be resolved down to the scale of individual lifetimes. The study of megalithic monuments has benefited from these developments but remains hampered by the indirect relationship between the materials that are dated and the structures themselves. Drawing on evidence from France, Scandinavia, and Iberia, it is nonetheless arguable that available patterns of dates suggest an event-like tempo to the construction of megalithic monuments, with large numbers being built within relatively short periods of time. This has implications for typological models and for the social context in which such monuments were designed and built.

Citation

Scarre, C. (2010). Rocks of ages: tempo and time in megalithic monuments. European Journal of Archaeology, 13(2), 175-193. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461957110370731

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Aug 1, 2010
Deposit Date	Oct 18, 2010
Publicly Available Date	Nov 15, 2010
Journal	European Journal of Archaeology
Print ISSN	1461-9571
Electronic ISSN	1741-2722
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	13
Issue	2
Pages	175-193
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/1461957110370731
Keywords	AMS dating, Chronology, Megalithic monuments, Neolithic, Passage graves, Typology.

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The final definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal European journal of archaeology, 13/2, 2010 © SAGE Publications Ltd by SAGE Publications Ltd at the European journal of archaeology page: http://eja.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/