The Landscape of Scotland

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From the top of the highest mountain to the bottom of the deepest peat bog, the landscape of Scotland bears the mark of the people who have lived and worked on the land for generations. It is the role of archaeology to recognise and interpret these traces, and in this book archaeological skills are brought to bear on the landscape of today. Beautiful scenery conceals traces of how the land was used by its communities — how the wealth of the land was extracted and exploited through mining and industry; how communities interacted through trade and warfare; and how religion and burial were performed. Each subject is explained using representative sites from all periods and all parts of the country, such as farmsteads, castles, Roman remains and standing stones. Each of the 150 sites bears an illustration and concise analysis using a broad range of physical and human factors. Wickham-Jones takes us to humps and bumps and piles of stone — the ordinary sites which explorers of the countryside come across every day. After reading this book a walk in the countryside will never be the same again.