The Tale of the Axe

How the Neolithic Revolution Transformed Britain

David Miles

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Hardback

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English

Thames & Hudson
01 September 2016

History; Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Archaeology by period & region

We, modern humans, are one of the youngest species on the planet. For our first hundred millennia we survived as hunters and foragers, moving about the land, following seasonal resources. It was only some ten thousand years ago that we domesticated plants and animals, thereby transforming our settlements, social relationships, diet and beliefs.

Focusing on the British Isles, David Miles explores this period of societal change - the Neolithic, or 'New Stone Age' - using the most iconic artifact of its time, the polished stone axe, as a guide to the revolution that changed the world. Mixing anecdote, ethnography and archaeological analysis, Miles vividly demonstrates how the archaeology on the ground reveals to us the evolving worldview of a species increasingly altering their own landscape; settling down together, investing in agricultural plots, and collectively erecting massive ceremonial monuments to cement new communal identities.

As a direct result of the invention, and intensification, of agriculture, the planet has entered the Anthropocene, or the 'age of humanity': an era in which we are changing the world around us in significant, accelerating and often unpredictable ways. Our ancestors set us on the path to the modern world we live in; now seven billion humans must face the challenges ahead.

By: David Miles
Imprint: Thames & Hudson
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 42mm
Weight: 840g
ISBN: 9780500051863
ISBN 10: 0500051860
Publication Date: 01 September 2016
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print

Preface • Prologue: A gift from the past • Part One: The Emergence of Humans • Part Two: The First Farmers • Part Three: Crossing the Water to Britain

Reviews for The Tale of the Axe: How the Neolithic Revolution Transformed Britain

'Presents his scholarly findings with glints of good--humoured individuality which make his book pleasantly readable, even by lay persons who may not previously have paid much attention to the difference between Palaeolithic and Neolithic tribal behaviour' - The Spectator 'A beautifully written narrative [and] a powerful testimony to the value of archaeology in today's world' - Brian Fagan, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara 'Colourful and lively writing and an eye to current issues and idioms play their part ... This is first-person scholarship at its most humane' - Literary Review 'Illuminating ... As layered as the strata of an archaeological dig, this is a moving portrait of a people at a cultural and technological tipping point' - Nature