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Europe's Lost Civilization: Exploring The Mysteries Of The Megaliths
Set in some of the wildest and most beautiful places in Europe, the megaliths of the stone age prompt many who built them and why? Do they throw light on our origins? What mysteries are encoded in their stones? Peter Marshall argues that the megaliths are the beguiling remnants of a highly advanced lost civilisation of Europe. He sails from Scotland via Ireland, Wales, England and France to the Mediterranean islands in a small boat, proving that ancient mariners made such long-distance journeys. He meets experts, enthusiasts and local characters, uses geology, archaeology, astronomy and engineering and includes myths, legends, stories and anecdotes to illustrate his theory. Europe's Lost Civilization is an exciting travel adventure and a compelling detective story, a fascinating physical, intellectual and spiritual quest into an ancient mystery.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
338 pages, Paperback
First published May 4, 2004
About the author
Peter H. Marshall
22 books38 followersPeter Hugh Marshall (born 23 August 1946, Bognor Regis, England) is an English philosopher, historian, biographer, travel writer and poet. He has written fifteen books which are being translated into fourteen different languages. He wrote, presented and partly filmed the 6-part HTV series 'Voyage Around Africa', first shown in 1994. He also wrote and presented the two-part series 'Celtic Gold: A Voyage around Ireland' for BBC Radio Wales in 1995, which later became a book.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 13, 2017
Using a sea voyage from the Orkneys to Malta as a frame narrative, the author discusses his theories on the megalithic civilisations of Europe. The author also mentions that the voyage itself is meant to serve as supporting evidence to his thesis that these civilisations were in sea contact with each other, though I'm not sure how much weight he places on that point given that there was no attempt to reproduce the maritime conditions of the neolithic age, and instead sailed in a modern boat with a keel, auxiliary engine, regular weather reports and a wealth of cartographic knowledge. Of course, even if he had made the journey in a curragh, that wouldn't count for much either. Just because something could have happened, doesn't mean that it did. If the author was serious about his sea-link hypothesis he would have spent a few chapters describing the material evidence behind it, such as shared pottery designs, trade goods, agricultural spread, etc. As it is, I suspect the author wanted to go sailing for the sake of sailing. Nothing wrong with that, but I see no reason to try to sell that as a historical experiment.
The main issue with the book is the tendency to shift from established history, to speculation, to ramblings about dowsing, "energy", leylines, offhand references to potential trans-Atlantic contact, and the like, without so much as a heads-up. A good example of this is the question of the Great Goddess. The author subscribes to the idea that before the incursion of warlike Bronze Age peoples, the megalithic civilisation sprawling across the Atlantic seaboard to the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean was united in a (possibly monotheistic?) worship of the Great Goddess. The author lays this down from the opening chapters, stating as a fact that this or that site was involved in the cult, but without offering any evidence besides the fact that the rocks are curvy and apparent lunar alignments (there is no reason given for the author's assertion that the moon is a girl and the sun is a boy. One might suppose this is based on the Indo-European tradition, but the Indo-Europeans, of course, did not build the megaliths). As a consequence, by the time the author reaches the Mediterranean, where the evidence for goddess-worship is somewhat more convincing, the reader is predisposed to dismiss his arguments as meaningless. Sure, he describes the Mediterranean sites as "doubtless" or "clearly" dedicated to the goddess, but those are the same terms he used in Britain, where the situation is a lot less clear. It's also worth noting that in the Mediterranean, as goddess statues appear, the lunar alignments seem to end. So much for the moon.
What's most amusing is that on dozens of occasions throughout the book the author berates modern archaeologists for projecting contemporary notions like hierarchy and territoriality on an era where there is no evidence for these existing, but at the same time has no qualms about projecting modern litcrit, where every line is a penis and every circle a womb, on the same society. Maybe this is his praised "intuitive lunar thinking" at work. Whatever the case, it does not make for a compelling book.
The main issue with the book is the tendency to shift from established history, to speculation, to ramblings about dowsing, "energy", leylines, offhand references to potential trans-Atlantic contact, and the like, without so much as a heads-up. A good example of this is the question of the Great Goddess. The author subscribes to the idea that before the incursion of warlike Bronze Age peoples, the megalithic civilisation sprawling across the Atlantic seaboard to the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean was united in a (possibly monotheistic?) worship of the Great Goddess. The author lays this down from the opening chapters, stating as a fact that this or that site was involved in the cult, but without offering any evidence besides the fact that the rocks are curvy and apparent lunar alignments (there is no reason given for the author's assertion that the moon is a girl and the sun is a boy. One might suppose this is based on the Indo-European tradition, but the Indo-Europeans, of course, did not build the megaliths). As a consequence, by the time the author reaches the Mediterranean, where the evidence for goddess-worship is somewhat more convincing, the reader is predisposed to dismiss his arguments as meaningless. Sure, he describes the Mediterranean sites as "doubtless" or "clearly" dedicated to the goddess, but those are the same terms he used in Britain, where the situation is a lot less clear. It's also worth noting that in the Mediterranean, as goddess statues appear, the lunar alignments seem to end. So much for the moon.
What's most amusing is that on dozens of occasions throughout the book the author berates modern archaeologists for projecting contemporary notions like hierarchy and territoriality on an era where there is no evidence for these existing, but at the same time has no qualms about projecting modern litcrit, where every line is a penis and every circle a womb, on the same society. Maybe this is his praised "intuitive lunar thinking" at work. Whatever the case, it does not make for a compelling book.
August 23, 2013
What first caught my attention about this book is that it covered a journey from the Orkneys to Malta. I have visited many megalithic sites in Malta, and a few in the UK, but had never tried to connect them before. This book opened my mind to a whole new way of thinking about pre-history. Its worth a read for those with a similar interest.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews