Little evidence exists of the lives of our ancestors four
to five thousand years ago, except that left behind in the
form of structures and artefacts. The burial cairns of the
Neolithic and Bronze Ages offer tantalising glimpses into
a world of ritual significance. Here the dead were buried
in large community vaults, often as family groups and
frequently with a clear pecking order of importance.
People were buried with tools, clothes and cherished
artefacts, making funerary monuments of particular
anthropological importance. Such cairns or pyramid
tombs were often sited where they had commanding
views over a moorland landscape, a river valley, or along a
coastline. Studying these sites, as well as the jewellery
and tools discovered within them, provides insights into a
world without written records. For many historical or
archaeological sites it is the use of technology, design and
construction that holds the key to understanding the lives
of people who lived long ago.
The path of the sun, and to a lesser extent the moon,
is the key to deciphering the spatial layout of many early
sites. In the north the sun was associated with harvests
(and hence survival) and appears to have had greater
impact upon the design of ancient sites (such as
Stonehenge) than places of similar date further south. The
motion of the sun (and moon for those who endured the
long, dark winters in places like Iceland and Orkney) had
an influence upon the geometry of buildings and other
structures. Layout on the ground often reflected cosmic
or astronomical relationships. Through the field sketch
and simple site measurement it may be possible to19.2a, b, c, d and e
These sketches of Roman buildings on the Aegean in southern Turkey seek to
investigate construction as well as more formal aspects of classical architecture.
History and archaeology 163