Neolithic Horizons: Monuments and Changing Communities in the Wessex Landscape Paperback – Illustrated, 18 April 2016

I had previously read (Heritage England) archaeology books by both of these authors and enjoyed them greatly. Therefore, I was looking forward to this publication as a synthesis of changing communities, their settlements and monuments, including the lesser known ones, within Wessex. Perhaps my expectation was too great but I was somewhat disappointed. I found the text somewhat convoluted and difficult to follow in particular chapters leaving me floundering to know where I was in space and time and how sites cross referenced to each other. I think the reason for this is that the text required far more linked diagrams, site plans, sections, maps at various scales related to the topography and most of all, each chapter could have had introductory "places mentioned in this chapter" map as a navigation aid. What would have been supportive to the reader would have been a series of space/sites - chronology tables showing which sites were developing when and where. This would have provided the cross referencing needed in a regional study such as this. Nonetheless, it is a useful book and does provide an overview but the reader has to be prepared to concentrate hard to glean the information and refer to other texts. There are some omissions from the bibliography. The chapter endnotes do not always tie into the bibliography which is frustrating. There is no index. A good (satisfactory) book BUT it could have been so much better.

Concise, easy to read, but lots of information and brings together many things you know (or don't) and makes it cohesive