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Stonehenge: is the medium the message?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

John C. Barrett  and
Kathryn J. Fewster
John C. Barrett
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology & Prehistory, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, England, [email protected]
Kathryn J. Fewster
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology & Prehistory, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, England, [email protected]
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Abstract

In June ANTIQUITY published a novel contribution by Mike Parker Pearson and his Madagascan colleague Ramilisonina, which addressed the question of the significance of stone at Stonehenge(ANTIQUITY 72: 308–76). They argued that stone symbolized death and the dead, and provided examples from ethnographic studies to support this notion. The paper has stimulated two replies–from John Barrett & Kathryn Fewster, and from Alasdair Whittle. We are pleased to publish these here, as part of the continuing debate on analogy in archaeology, and on Stonehenge.

Keywords

hengelandscapeethnographyanalogymegalithancestorsmetaphorMadagascar
Type
Notes
Information
Antiquity , Volume 72 , Issue 278 , December 1998 , pp. 847 - 852
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 1998

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