Shining a light on some of the most interesting research results on megalithic cultures, as well as their contemporaries, these 16 papers from the European Megalithic Studies Group symposium (Santiago de Compostela, Spain), cover monuments from Germany, moving down the Atlantic Facade across to Ireland and then back to the Western Mediterranean. Issues presented in this volume include temporality and mobility (both at the broad scale and at the local scale), social organisation & settings and external relationships. The methods used to investigate these themes are various: bio-molecular and isotopic analyses, typo-chronology, targeted excavations & radiocarbon dating, material cultural analyses, 3D models, ceremonial & funerary/burial practices (including osteometrics) and large-scale prospection. New methods researching the materiality and symbolism of monuments are also presented; some incorporate the role of the natural world. Alongside them are other contributions focusing on the key characteristic of megalithic monuments - the skilful and purposeful arrangement of large blocks of stone - and their interpretation. Discoveries include the intriguing return of large & complex ceremonial timber circles in active megalithic areas, presenting a significant contrast to what was considered the main funerary expressions in South Portugal. Ultimately, through the application of new, or differently applied, technologies and ways of thinking, this volume offers a series of studies that remove some of the mystery that surrounds these mementos of another time.
Gail Higginbottom has a PhD on the megaliths of western Scotland (Arts, Adelaide). Now postdoctoral researcher (ERC-SyG-2020-951631-XSCAPE Material Minds (2024 - INCIPIT, CSIC), a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, a Visiting Research Fellow (Bournemouth and Adelaide) and founding member of CAA (AUS) and AAAC (Australian Association for Astronomy in Culture). A member of the MSCA Alumni Association (EUproject SHoW: Shared Worlds, project number 800236, https: //gailhigginbottom.wixsite.com/mysite), she researches European and Landscape Archaeology, and Cultural Astronomy.
Jadranka Verdonkschot is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Heritage Sciences (INCIPIT-CSIC). She studied at the Universities of Amsterdam, Prague, and Alcalá de Henares and earned her doctorate in European Neolithic archaeology from Tübingen University and Alcalá University. Currently, she is the Principal Investigator of MILESTONE: Modelling Megalithic Space. Paleoenvironment, Navigation and Sight in Monumental Landscapes Grant (PID2023-152882NB-I00 of the Spanish State National Research Agency) and a postdoctoral researcher in the XSCAPE, Material Minds (ERC Synergy Grant) project. Her research focuses on landscape archaeology, monumentality and cognitive-material interactions in prehistory.
Chris Scarre has a PhD from the University of Cambridge and is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at Durham University.
A. César González-García has a PhD in Astronomy from the RijkUniversiteit Groningen and is a staff researcher at the Institute of Heritage Sciences (INCIPIT-CSIC, Santiago de Compostela).
Felipe Criado-Boado, Professor of Research, Institute of Heritage Sciences (INCIPIT-CSIC, Santiago de Compostela). He is Honorary Research Associate of McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and Research Professor at the CSIC.
