{"title":"Luc Laporte","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"megalithic-architectures-of-europe-book-luc-laporte-9781789258097","title":"The Megalithic Architectures of Europe","description":"Megalithic monuments are among the most striking remains of the Neolithic period of northern and western Europe and are scattered across landscapes from Pomerania to Portugal. Antiquarians and archaeologists early recognised the family resemblance of the different groups of tombs, attributing them to maritime peoples moving along the western seaways. More recent research sees them rather as the product of established early farming communities in their individual regions. Yet the diversity of the tombs, their chronologies and their varied cultural contexts complicates any straightforward understanding of their origins and distribution.     Megalithic Architectures provides new insight by focusing on the construction and design of European megalithic tombs – on the tomb as an architectural project. It shows how much is to be learned from detailed attention to the stages and the techniques through which tombs were built, modified and enlarged, and often intentionally dismantled or decommissioned. The large slabs that were employed, often unshaped, may suggest an opportunistic approach by the Neolithic builders, but this was clearly far from the case. Each building project was unique, and detailed study of individual sites exposes the way in which tombs were built as architectural, social and symbolic undertakings. Alongside the manner in which the materials were used, it reveals a store of knowledge that sometimes differed considerably from one structure to another, even between contemporary monuments within a single region.     The volume brings together regional specialists from Scandinavia, Germany, Britain, France, Belgium and Iberia to offer a series of uniquely authoritative studies. Results of recent fieldwork are fully incorporated and much of the material is published here for the first time in English. It provides an invaluable overview of the current state of research on European megalithic tombs.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49741399064849,"sku":"NGR9781789258097","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/178925809X.jpg?v=1751279612"},{"product_id":"megaliths-of-the-world-book-luc-laporte-9781803273204","title":"Megaliths of the World","description":"Megaliths of the World brings together the latest research on megalithic monuments throughout the world. Many of these sites are well known, others less familiar, yet equally deserving of close attention. Megalithic monuments in different regions of the world are far from being a single unified phenomenon, having varied chronologies, and diverse origins, but they all share a certain family resemblance through their common characteristic: the deployment of large stones. No fewer than 150 researchers have contributed 72 articles and inserts, providing a vital region-by region account of the megalithic monuments in their specialist areas, and the current state of knowledge.    The insights offered in these volumes emphasize the particular character and significance of these apparently inanimate stones. The use of such large blocks must surely have been an expression of power or prestige, yet the size and materiality of the stones themselves opens up new perspectives into the meaning and symbolism of these monuments, the places from which the blocks were derived, and the way they were manipulated and shaped.    Megaliths of the World takes the reader on a fascinating journey, offering new insights through encounters with megaliths and megalithic traditions that will often be new and unfamiliar. Highlighting salient themes, it provides a compendium of detailed information that will be vital to anyone interested in the phenomenon of megalithic monumentality.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49743232696593,"sku":"NGR9781803273204","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1803273208.jpg?v=1750724273"},{"product_id":"la-necropole-aux-amants-petrifies-ruines-megalithiques-de-wanar-region-de-kaffri-book-luc-laporte-9781803277653","title":"La La Necropole Aux Amants Petrifies. Ruines Megalithiques de Wanar (Region de Kaffrine, Senegal)","description":"This collective work reports on the studies and archaeological work carried out at the megalithic ruined necropolis of Wanar, Senegal, between 2008 and 2017. Along with Sine Ngayene in Senegal, and Wassu and Ker Batch in Gambia, the Wanar sanctuary is one of four sites classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2006. The first part sets out the general framework for the study of paleoenvironments as well as historical and archaeological data, and concludes with a brief summary of megaliths in Africa.        The second part reports on all the observations made, starting with a presentation of the Wanar site in the context of human settlements along the Bao Bolon valley, followed by an account of the main study methods used. This is followed by a detailed presentation of the six monuments studied, three to the north of the necropolis with short, squat monoliths, and three to the south with narrow, elongated monoliths, built between the 11th and 13th centuries AD. The sanctuary then took the form of a village with stone houses, dedicated to the dead and, in the context of deferred funerals, in three stages as in many traditional funeral rites still practiced today in West Africa.        Paradigm shifts in the state of knowledge about the megaliths of Senegal and Gambia call for a careful re-reading of previous work, which is the subject of the third and final section. The monograph on the work at the Wanar site is therefore an important milestone in the advancement of our knowledge of protohistoric societies and megalith builders in West Africa.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51628987711761,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51628987908369,"sku":"NGR9781803277653","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1803277653.jpg?v=1750930145"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-luc-laporte.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}