Well, for a number of European countries Oxford University Press has just what you are looking for: the Oxford Archaeological Guides. Although published by an academic press each guide is both interesting and engaging. They are written by archaeologists who are experts in their fields, and so they also offer an informed and accurate background and guide to the archaeology of a given country, or in one case, city.

They have been around for a while, some well over ten years but glancing at the covers illustrated below you will see that they are currently undergoing a visual make-over, as anyone who knows these guides will immediately spot (England is an old Cover design, Ireland a new one).

England by Timothy Darvill, Paul Stamper & Jane Timby
The Oxford Archaeology Guide to England provides information for over 250 sites from the early Palaeolithic of the Ice Age to the later Medieval period, ending around 1600 AD. The kind of archaeological sites range from the stone circles for which England is so well know, to Iron Age hill forts, Roman villas and Medieval castles and churches. A truly monumental diversity. Not surprisingly, this particular guide, unlike some of the others, has been co-authored by three archaeologists, each recognised experts in their own fields of prehistoric, Roman and Medieval archaeology. The difference between this and those written by a single author is very noticeable – the range of periods covered is extensive, and this entire range is expertly covered.

• Available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Southern France by Henry Cleere
As the title suggests this archaeological guide is restricted to Southern France, more specifically that area between the the Massif Central and the Mediterranean. This region does have some of the finest archaeological sites in France, from the limestone caves with their Palaeolithic paintings and engravings, to the wonderful and well known Roman monumental architecture such as the Pont du Gard in Provence. Surprisingly, this is where the book ends – with the Roman occupation of France. The list of prehistoric sites included is weak, and there is nothing of the Medieval period. It does seem as if there is no shortage of guides to the Roman archaeology of this area, for other periods and the rest of France, there is always Archaeology Travel.

• Available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Greece by Christopher Mee & Antony Spawforth
The archaeology guide to Greece is restricted to mainland Greece, the numerous groups of islands are not included. The few islands that are included are considered extensions of the mainland, from which they can be reached (for example, Euboia and Thasos). For the mainland, this book is a comprehensive guide to the many archaeological sites from the Palaeolithic to the sixth century AD that are open to the public, that should not be missed. An amusing feature is the ‘partner factor’ – for those who visit sites with a partner who is not as enthralled about yet ‘another pile of stones’ as you are. Included with the site details then are other comments of aspects that will make it more appealing to partners looking for an interesting walk, or a nice beach.

• Available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

The Holyland by Jerome Murphy-O’Connor
For anyone interested in the archaeology of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, this recently updated archaeological guide to the Holy Land is a must – whether you are visiting or not. Updates that have been added to the most recent addition include, for example, recent crucial developments at the Holy Sepulchre, as well details and information for six new sites: one of which is a Middle Bronze Age water system in Jerusalem, and another what may be the original Pool of Siloam. The book covers the archaeology of this area from the earliest times up to 1700 AD, those that are both accessible and have something of significance to see. The book is divided in two – those sites in the City of Jerusalem, and those in the Land.

• Available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Ireland by Andy O`Halpin & Conor Newman
As we do on Archaeology Travel, this archaeology guide of Ireland treats the island as a single entity, including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is one of four nations in the United Kingdom. The archaeology of this island is very similar to that of other areas of north-western Europe, but there are also some significant differences. For instance, there was no occupation of this region by the Romans, but there was an ongoing process of colonisation by the English that shows in the castles, manors, churches, and villages established by the English lords. This guide covers the archaeology from the earliest sites of the Mesolithic around 9,000 years ago to the archaeology of the later Medieval period of the seventeenth century AD.

• Available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Scotland by Anna Ritchie & Graham Ritchie
Compiling this guide to the archaeological sites of Scotland must have been at once a daunting and an exciting project. The archaeology so varied, including a range of Neolithic monuments, Roman fortresses, Viking settlements, and Christian churches. And the country is so vast with remote islands and extensive mountainous areas – often not easy to get to. But this wonderfully produced book provides a guide to over 250 of these archaeological sites from the Neolithic to the twelfth century AD, scattered far and wide across Scotland. Simply reading the guide makes me want to return to Scotland to explore some of the regions I have not visited, but also revisit some of the archaeological sites I know. Sixty sites have been singled out, with the suggestion that of all the sites, these should not be missed.

• Available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Spain by Roger Collins
Of all the western European nations, Spain certainly has the most exotic archaeological heritage, from the cave art of the last Ice Age, to the extensive architectural remains from the Roman occupation of the Iberian peninsular, and also the opulent palaces and fortresses built by the Arabs during the Middle Ages. Over 130 archaeological sites are presented here, 26 of which have been singled out for particular attention, for the archaeological traveller ranging from prehistory to the Christian and Islamic periods of the Medieval in the twelfth century AD. But the earliest sites are Neolithic – not the Palaeolithic cave art sites. With such a well known site such as Altamira, one that is open to the public – and has been long before this book was published, its omission from any guide to archaeological sites in Spain is odd.

• Available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

The only other published Oxford Archaeology Guide not included in this review is the volume on the city of Rome by Amanda Claridge. As I have just recently visited Rome, and used this guide to get about, I thought I would review that volume separately. There are volumes on Crete, North Africa and Western Turkey in preparation.

My only criticism of the series is for the single authored guides, such as Sapin and Southern France. The omission of one of Spain’s most iconic archaeological sites, the very restricted nature of the France volume, make these volumes more about the interests of the authors than about providing a good guide to these areas. These two volumes stand in stark contrast, in my opinion, to the England and Ireland guides where co-authors with individual expertises collaborated to produce what are definitive guides. No one person can master the archaeology of these vast areas. Hopefully this will be remedied in future editions – it would not be difficult to do. And it should because it does compromise the Series’ desire to provide authoritative archaeology guides for travellers. This criticism should not, however, detract from the value of this Series.

These are weighty books, but they are intended as practical guides not glossy picture books. Besides the cover there are no colour photographs at all. Although the archaeology contained with in each is very different, and cover different periods of time, they all have a basic set of features that makes each one an indispensable guide for anyone wanting to explore the archaeology of a particular area in a bit more depth than one might find in a more generic, regional travel guide. They each start with a well illustrated introduction that provides an essential background to the archaeology of the region that follows. The sites are then organised by region and then alphabetically within each region – with symbols employed to denote the period or or significance of the site. Each volume also has an extensive glossary, list of museums and sites as well as a list of further reading. Numerous black and white photographs, plan diagrams and maps are included to complement the text as appropriate. As the saying goes … archaeology travellers, you can’t leave home without one!

The Colosseum, Rome

The subterranean level of the Colosseum

Also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, the Colosseum was everything I expected. As pictures of this iconic monument are everywhere I do think it is hard for anyone not to have developed a relatively good idea of what this particular amphitheatre, the largest in the Roman world then and now, looks like ‘in the flesh’ so to speak. This is not to suggest that visiting the Colosseum is disappointing – far from it. From the street you can not help but appreciate this impressive and imposing Roman building. My only false expectation was thinking I would be able to see it on the city’s skyline, but then that is because I did not understand the geography of Rome and how the amphitheatre is in a dip between the legendary seven hills of Rome.

The interior, with its ranked seating and the exposed subterranean level, is every bit as fascinating as the exterior is impressive. There may very well be Roman amphitheatres where the interior is better preserved than that of the Colosseum, and enable concerts and performances still to this day, but this one seemed a bit more real, a bit more archaeological to me. Viewing platforms have been strategically placed
on the different accessible levels to enable a good view into the ‘guts’ of the amphitheatre that would have been under the arena floor. It was through these maze-like corridors and shafts that animals would have been brought onto the arena for all manner of games and spectacles that we associate the Roman world with.

Londinium’s Amphitheatre, London

Plan of amphitheatre remains

From the heart of the Roman world to the one of the biggest cities in the westernmost province of the Roman Empire, Londinium. London’s amphitheatre was discovered by archaeologists relatively recently in 1988 during advance excavations for the construction of the Guildhall Art Gallery. It was always assumed there must have been an amphitheatre, but its location was unknown until work to build the art gallery started. Only the foundations of the east gate have been found, including the wooden drain that ran in the ground from the arena, out of the east gate. Clearly a very modest remnant of a once grand building. But still, the site became a scheduled monument and the plans for the art gallery had to be revised to take in the remains of the amphitheatre.

The contrast between the Colosseum today and the portion of the foundations of Londinium’s amphitheatre could not be more obvious and stark. And you can just feel for the people who were given the task of making something of these meagre remains in situ beneath the streets of London. What they achieved is I believe quite spectacular.

London Roman Amphitheatre

There are two basic features that no museological trick was going hide. First, the foundations are in the basement of a modern building – not out under an open sky as would have been the case originally. Secondly, to say the remains are meagre, following a visit to the Colosseum, does seem like an understatement. The designers of the display have taken these two features and created something an effective exhibition area.

The display space is entirely blacked out, and besides a few discretely placed spotlights to provide enough light for it to be safe to walk about and to see the physical remains, the most striking feature is a luminous sketch of what the interior of the amphitheatre would have been like, with similarly luminous reproductions of human figures added to the pillars that hold up the building. These luminous effects have been fitted around the foundations of the east gate to the arena, with the wooden remains of the drain embedded into the floor, as they would have been, under glass. So, as you walk into the display you are walking up the passage of the east gate into the arena. You see the stone foundations to your left and right, the wooden drain and its sump under your feet, and ahead you have an impression of what the inside of the amphitheatre would have been like, complete with a few people scattered about.

The visual effect is stunning, and shows what can be done to display archaeological sites, no matter how ephemeral they may be today, to make them interesting places to visit. Londinium’s amphitheatre may not be anything like the Colosseum today, but it is definitely worth a visit, along with such other remains as the City Wall and the Mithraeum.

On Archaeology Travel

Our regional directories of archaeological sites and museums of Italy, including of course Rome and the Colosseum, will be added to Archaeology Travel soon. In the meantime, the following will be of interest, and provide more photographs to view:

• The London Roman Amphitheatre – Guildhall Art Gallery
• London City Wall – constructed during both Roman and Medieval periods
• The Museum of London
• Amphitheatres of the Roman World

Resources

For an exclusively archaeological guidebook of Rome, which has a great deal of information about the Colosseum and other amphitheatres in Rome, I highly recommend the Oxford Archaeological Guide to Rome by Amanda Claridge (available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.)

For Londinium, the Museum of London has recently updated its map of Roman London, it is available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

The New Basilica, built between 306 - 313 AD

Baths of Caracalla, built between 211 and 216 AD

One of the great things about the archaeology of Rome, besides the size, is how close together most of the principal sites are. It really is not that far to walk directly from the Colosseum to the Baths of Caracella for example, and on the way there are a number of things to see. It goes without saying then that any number of less direct routes between the Colosseum and the baths take you by many more temples, arches and walls. This is certainly a bonus if you enjoy walking and you only have a limited time for the archaeological sites.

Of the archaeological sites, I would not miss these:

• The Colosseum – definitely worth going in
• The Baths of Caracalla – for the size, if nothing else
• Ostia Antica – a 20 min train ride from the centre of Rome
• The Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill (these two can be taken in together)

Besides these and many more archaeological sites, there are also a number of interesting museums and art galleries. The Capitoline Museums for example are a must – advertised as the oldest public collection in the world.

Cleaning mosaics at the Baths of Caracalla

Archaeology Travel Tips

Two travel tips to consider if you are going to Rome and wish to see as much of the archaeology as possible:

First, get yourself a Roma Pass. These last for three days and not only provide free or discounted entry to over 30 participating archaeological sites, museums, art galleries, and other attractions, but you can also avoid the queues. The pass also allows the holder free use of public transport for during those three days. The Roma Pass also includes transport and entry to Ostia Antica.

Second, to be able to get to grips with the archaeological sites a decent archaeology guidebook is essential, as opposed to one of those generic city guides. Information panels at the various sites vary in quality, quantity and consitency, and are often non-existent. For an exclusively archaeological guidebook I highly recommend the Oxford Archaeological Guide to Rome by Amanda Claridge (available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.)

These are just a handful of the photographs I took – many more will be posted on the relevant site pages in the Rome section of the Archaeology Travel website, live from the end of March 2012.

Saint Thibéry Roman Bridge

Archaeology Travel aspires to being the first point of call on the internet for people planning a visit to a particular region and wanting to know exactly what archaeology is accessible in that region. For anyone looking for information about visiting the spectacular Roman monuments in the south of France, our coverage of the Roman period in the south of France is I believe very good. Take for example the city of Fréjus, I am confident our entry for this Roman port, and the various surviving features scattered about the modern city, is not only the most comprehensive guide online it is also the most accurate. With our ‘points of interest’ feature we have exactly pin-pointed all the known Roman remains in Fréjus.

If you then want a light, accessible but accurate book to the Roman archaeology of this region, we recommend Edwin Mullins’ Roman Provence: a History and Guide. This is a wonderful readable account of the abundant Roman archaeology here. But we are fortunate in that for this area there is also a more extensive guide to the Roman archaeology.

The Roman Remains of France by James Bromwich

James Bromwich has produced two specialist guides to the Roman archaeology of France. These are divided geographically, the first, published in 1993, is The Roman Remains of Southern France. The second guidebook, which was published in 2003, is The Roman Remains of Northern and Eastern France. We can but hope that a third volume is being prepared covering the Roman archaeology of western France – a region for which there is currently no English guidebook. These are both substantial and comprehensive volumes, indispensable for anyone visiting these regions of France who has a particular and specialist interest in the Roman period.

Despite being guides with practical visitor information they also provide a readable in-depth account of the Roman period. But these are not stuffy, dry academic tomes. They not only include major archaeological sites and the lessor known sites, but more popular museums and archaeological theme parks have also been added with thoughtful accounts. The guides are richly illustrated, with both black and white photographs and line diagrams that show in plan the layout of a modern town overlaying a Roman town and where the remnants of that era are still visible.

As I said before, these are substantial volumes, the guide covering southern France is 368 pages while the other is 460 pages. They are reasonably priced. But they are for travellers with a more serious and sustained interest in the Roman Empire. For instance, regional tourist guides will only include mention of the main sites, or those sites that are easily visited. The Lyonnais aqueducts are a good example, James Bromwich provides extensive details of the known remains of the four aqueducts that fed the Roman city of Lyon in over 12 pages.

Included for each site and museum are very good directions and other access information, even the URLs for websites in the later volume where these exist. As Bromwich cautions in his introductory notes, despite including opening times these should not be blindly relied upon, so should be checked in advance. But as anyone travelling in remote areas will attest, even posted opening hours are not always reliable.

Different people seek to engage with the archaeology of a given area at different levels. For those who enjoy visiting France and seeing the Roman remains in the north, east and south, and wanting to go off the beaten track to see more than just the spectacular amphitheatres and monuments in the big cities and who require a greater understanding of the Roman period of this country, these two books will be indispensable guides. I can thoroughly recommend them both, even if you just enjoy reading about the Roman Empire.

The Roman Remains of Southern France: a Guidebook is available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

The Roman Remains of Northern and eastern France: a Guidebook is available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Some archaeological sites are single entities that are easy to pin-point on a map. The marking on a map of a cave with Palaeolithic cave art, a Neolithic Stone circle or even an Iron Age hill fort, is a relatively straight forward affair. A marker placed at the entrance to the cave or in the centre of the circle sufficiently locates the site. And from the start this is what each of our site records had. But, as we have been adding more and more sites it soon became clear not all sites were this simple.

Take, for example, Nîmes in the south of France. Because the Roman city developed into the contemporary city there is today no single archaeological site, various remnants of the Roman city are now scattered over quite a large area. Instead of simply plonking a marker at the centre of the city, we have created a map where we pin-point for our readers all the ‘points of interest’ for Roman Nîmes – have a look and tell us what you think. This is going to be a feature that will be used frequently for many of the Roman era sites in Italy, where the remains of a Roman town are scattered across a modern town or city. We feel this feature gives people a better idea of what to expect, it is certainly more accurate.

Unlike my partners Pauline and Steve, for some unknown reason I have never been to Italy. You would think that a visit to Pompeii was all but obligatory for an archaeologist. I can not even blame this omission on my being a prehistoric archaeologist not a classical one; even with my expertise in rock art I have yet to visit the wonderful late prehistoric engravings on the glaciated pavements in La Val Camonica. Adding Italy to Archaeology Travel has given me a wonderful excuse redress this wrong. I have just booked an air ticket to Rome for a few days.

The Pantheon in Rome

Having spent the last few weeks reading everything I could about Italian archaeology, I am now feeling quite excited about the trip: visiting a ‘new’ country and seeing some spectacular archaeology – particularly with the view to sharing this on Archaeology Travel. If any of our readers familiar with Rome and her archaeology would care to share their highlights, please do. As I only have a few days I will obviously pack in as much as I can. And of course while visiting as much of the archaeology of Rome as possible is top of my agenda, I am going to have to eat! So suggestions of what to eat and where will be as welcome.

Do leave your suggestions and recommendations below.

Just finished at the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye on the outskirts of Paris, was an interesting exhibition on the Bronze Age Age of France. As France’s national archaeology museum and established in the 1860s by Napoleon III, there are some stunning objects in their collections. The museum’s permanent exhibitions are quite traditional albeit thorough, starting at the beginning and working their way through to the archaeology of the Medieval period. De Bronze & D’Or was a modest, temporary exhibition that explored daily life during the Bronze Age in France (2,400 – 700 BC) through some of the more striking artefacts in the museums collection.

On show in over 20 cases was an interesting collection of Bronze Age artefacts, from a few small and finely crafted arrow points from Brittany to striking and enigmatic artefacts made from gold, such as the gold Avanton cone found near Poitiers. I thought I would share just a few photographs of some of the objects and cases that caught my attention.

On Archaeology Travel

• National archaeology Museum
• Vallée des Merveilles – Bronze Age rock art

Resources

• Pastoralist Landscapes and Social Interaction in Bronze Age Eurasia by Michael Frachetti (also available on Amazon.com)
• The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World by David W. Anthony (also available on Amazon.com)
• Bronze Age Connections: Cultural Contact in Prehistoric Europe by Peter Clark (also available on Amazon.com)

Egypt and the Origins of Civilisation?

Egyptian Gallery in the British Museum, London

Although very few museum curators would today agree with Vivenel, and rightly so, it has to be said that this is certainly in part because those Museums that would want Egyptian objects already have them, and those that do not have probably resigned themselves to the situation that the removal of ancient artefacts from Egypt is now strictly forbidden. Of course this does not stop looting, but no respectable museum would buy objects of dubious provenance.

Antoine Vivenel was a very wealthy architect and collector of Classical antiquities and Renaissance art. In 1839 he donated his vast and impressive collection to the city of his birth, Compiègne in Picardy, France. Since then, and partly because of the quality of the existing collection, the Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie de Compiègne has had a number of other substantial donations from private collectors. And today the museum, now known as Musée Antoine Vivenel, is the regional repository for objects from local archaeological excavations.

What we see in the Musée Antoine Vivenel is typical of many museums of its time and type. And that is, museums that started out as (often private) collections of Egyptian and Classical antiquities together with more modern Western art. Some of these are simply “Fine Arts” museums, others are “Art and Archaeology” museums. Only in rare instances are the art and archaeology collections split into separate museums. The art and archaeology in these museums then get displayed chronologically, starting with ancient Egypt and Classical Greece and Rome, leading up to through the Middle Ages to contemporary art. Visitors are guided in a particular way, in some museums this is more subtle than in others, so that you witness this “evolution” of art. What I always enjoy is the way in which the archaeology is often placed in the basement, with bare brick or or stone walls, in stark contrast to the more refined spaces above them.

Museums in different nations are then each telling their own narrative of the progress of civilisation – through the “evolution of art”, starting in Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome and ending with more recent and contemporary collections of paintings and sculpture. These are the ways in which museums reinforce the popular myth that ancient Egypt was the first civilisation … but what about those ancient cultures in the Far East, Central America? These are some of the very issues that some museums are now confronting in radically redesigned galleries and presentations of their Egyptian collections. In my next blog post I will be writing about one such museum.

Ancient Egypt On Archaeology Travel

Musée de Picardie, Amiens

Various writers have tried to account for this fascination, most of the suggested theories focussing on our attitude towards death and the afterlife. Other writers have
suggested that for us boring Westerners ancient Egyptians were the exotic beings we wish we were. Whatever the reasons, people of all ages greatly enjoy looking at ancient Egyptian artefacts.

On Archaeology Travel we have created a self guided tour of the various museums in the countries we include that have Egyptian antiquities on display. This list is not exhaustive and is certainly being added to. We aim to provide a thorough list of all the main permanent collections, but with as much geographical spread as is possible. So where ever you are, a mummy is not that far away if you need something to do on a rainy day!

See our self guided tour of Egyptian Antiquities in European Museums (currently includes museums in England, France, Scotland and Wales).

Aurochs from the so-called 'Hall of Bulls'

It was in 1940, and quite by chance, that the splendours of Lascaux first came to light. The first prehistorians to see the art in the cave were overwhelmed, and soon after the end of World War II Lascaux began to attract significant numbers of visitors. Having survived in a very stable and somewhat sterile environment for 17,000 years, in a relatively short space of time the cave and its images were suddenly exposed to destructive elements that resulted in the forced closure of the cave in 1963.

From then on entry to Lascaux was severely restricted and closely monitored. Given the importance of Lascaux the French Government pledged to fund the creation of a replica. In 1983, after about 11 years of painstaking work Lascaux II opened to the public. Far from putting visitors off, the facsimile has proved to be every bit as popular as the original was. Today some 250,000 people visit Lascaux II each year, with about 5 million recorded visitors since its opening.

However, only a part of the cave was recreated for Lascaux II, namely the hall of bulls and what is called the ‘axial gallery’, which has that wonderful image of the upside down horse – said by some to represent a horse falling off a cliff. But, now Lascaux is set to go one better, for even as I type an additional five parts of the cave are being reproduced, including the exquisite frieze of swimming stags and the oft-repeated scene of the bison and wounded man. Completion of these is due for July 2012, they will form the focus of a major exhibition of the cave of Lascaux that will tour some of the leading museums of the World. At a cost of over 3 million Euros, the exhibition, already being dubbed Lascaux III, will cover all aspects of this iconic cave, from the chance ‘discovery’ of the art, what the cave has revealed through decades of interdisciplinary research, to the continued attempts to preserve the fragile imagery.

Lascaux Exhibition in Bordeaux: 15 October 2012 – January 2013

The wounded man painting

Bordeaux will be the first city to host the exhibition, and the date of 15 October 2012 has been “fixed” for the opening. Given the extravagance that has been heaped on various celebrations surrounding Lascaux thus far, this is going to be a cultural event to remember. The exhibition will stay in Bordeaux until January 2013, when it will then travel the world – by sea apparently, not to return to France until 2020. The first scheduled stop is at the Field Museum in Chicago, where it will be on display from March to September 2013. Thereafter, the exhibition will travel to Montréal, and then San Francisco for 2014, after which the exhibition will head for Asia.

Books on Lascaux

If you are unable to get to Lascaux II or the new exhibition in Bordeaux, or anywhere else it calls after 2012, how about a good book? Not surprisingly given the iconic status of the cave, there are many, many books on Lascaux, both fiction and non-fiction. As far as non-fiction titles go, one of the most spectacular is Mario Ruspoli’s Cave of Lascaux: Final Photographic Record (1987). This is a lavishly produced volume, now only available second hand, that documented what was intended to be the final photographic record of the cave.

For a much more recent book, one that is at once as lavish as Ruspoli’s book as well as being up to date on the archaeology, I do not hesitate to recommend Norbert Aujoulat’s The Splendour of Lascaux (available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).

On Archaeology Travel

• Lascaux II
• Cave Art in the South of France – a self guided tour

Book your trip to Bordeaux now! Or Chicago, Montréal, San Francisco …

Why the Irony?

I want to go home!

Not surprisingly the Today programme on the BBC’s Radio 4 have been discussing Hitchens’s legacy this morning. Sadly, no one mentioned his 1987 book The Elgin Marbles, which has been revised a number of times since, most recently in 2008 as The Parthenon Marbles: The Case for Reunifcation. He took an unequivocal stand against the British Museum who rather naively still argue that more tourists from all over the world see the Elgin Marbles in London. As Paris is the world’s top tourist destination, I dare say more people will be able to enjoy Bronte’s amazing 19 page, miniature magazine in its new home in the French capital than in West Yorkshire.

That the British cultural elite tend to want to have it both ways was of course not lost on Hitchens. His envious ability to take hold of an issue and shake it to its core assumptions meant he was able to cut straight to the contradictions the case for retaining the Elgin Marbles in London presents. His wit makes reading such exposés a pleasure, as the preface to his 2008 edition attests. Christopher Hitchens first wrote about the Elgin Marbles issue when writing for the Spectator, and it was his article published 1 January 1983 that is often credited for reigniting a public debate. There followed in 1987 then a fuller treatment of the matter in his book The Elgin Marbles.

The Parthenon Marbles: The Case for Reunifcation

The 2008 edition was produced because of the then imminent opening of the new Acropolis Museum in Athens – which unfortunately but perhaps not surprisingly turned out to be a lost opportunity of grand proportions. Besides a foreword by the South African novelist Nadine Gordimer, a few other more technical essays, some recent photographs, and a preface by Hitchens, the book is essentially much as it was in 1987. With all due respect on this day, the debate about the restitution of cultural objects has moved on substantively since the end of the 1980s. That said, Hitchens’s account of events up until that time is unsurpassed in its investigative subtlety and accuracy. There remain a number of questions raised by Hitchens that the British Museum has yet to answer.

That Hitchen’s did not update the book entirely is a great pity, which must have been a great relief to current guardians of the Elgin Marbles. His 2008 preface shows that he was no less able to identify two decades on the “mushy and evasive post-modern babble” of the British Museum and cut to the chase as he was in 1987. A substantial reworking of the book, would not only be a welcome contribution to a debate that is jaw-dropping in its simplicity and ignorance, but it would certainly have provided a much needed response to the neo-colonialist position adopted the British Museum.

The best comment about the book can be read in the one negative review of this book on Amazon UK’s website (even the most ham-fisted PI could tell you who wrote the review). In what must have been thought to be a final low and damning blow, the ‘reviewer’ ends: “This was a political, not a cultural or archaeological, gesture.” At least one person gets it then! This is the very point of Hitchens’s account of the debate, such as it is. And, it is this denial of the political nature of the debate about the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles by both sides that can explain why the Elgin Marbles are still in London. When the debate can deal with the politics – appropriately, and by this I do not mean some naive treatment of Greek nationalism, I will be buying shares in the packing crate industry.

For anyone wanting to read the history of the Elgin Marbles, a history you will not find in the British Museum’s print or online publications, Christopher Hitchens’s book is a must; its polemical position notwithstanding. Which is more than can be said of any other book that deals with the subject.

The 2008 edition of The Parthenon Marbles: The Case for Reunification by Christopher Hitchens is available on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

The interior of Staigue Stone Fort

After dodging buses and stone walls to the left and right of us on the Ring of Kerry, it was a relief to escape the main road and head down a narrow, one-car lane for a few miles. Occasionally, we’d come upon another car and both vehicles would hug the overgrown fuschia bushes crowding the road and try to pass each other without taking off a mirror. Near an old stone bridge, we took a left and headed up a private drive. We’d arrived at one of the finest stone forts in Ireland – Staigue Fort. Unassuming from the drive up, Staigue Fort is an incredible early masterpiece of stone fort building in Ireland. It’s one of the largest stone forts in Ireland, and was likely built between the first century BC and the early centuries AD. Ring forts (also called hill forts) such as Staigue Fort are thought to be among the most common archaeological sites in Ireland – there are several on this southern pass of the Ring of Kerry.

Staigue Fort (Cathair Na Stéige) is thought to have been a defensive stronghold for a local leader or king. It is truly in an excellent defensive spot, on a high hill, with smaller mountains at the rear. There is a large ditch and stream running on the northwest side. The fort probably held a clan – family, servants, soldiers – and their livestock.

Staigue Fort is a circular fort, and the walls are all constructed by hand of local stone with no mortar (dry stone). The walls are about 6 meters tall, up to 4 meters wide, and the enclosed area is about 30 meters in diameter. Visitors enter through a narrow, lintelled doorway. Once within, the ground is flat and even. There are a few signs in both English and Gaelic, describing the fort and its history.

The drystone walls of Staigue Fort

There are two small rooms within the SW and NW walls, entered through miniscule doors. Our 8 year-old daughter was able to go within and even stand up inside these small rooms. Although she thought I could stand up once in, my bad knees prevented me from heading inside. The rooms have corbelled roofs. We spent a great deal of time wondering about the purpose of the rooms – were they storage for food and other perishables, or meant to escape the rain, to hold animals, or even have a purpose in ceremonies?

Climb up small stone stairways to the ramparts on top of the walls – there are several evenly spaced series of steps. Each stairway has two access points, rising on each side to join together at the top (like the bottom half of an X). Standing atop the walls, I, too, saw the excellent views the original inhabitants had of the green lands sloping toward the ocean. I could almost sense the living interior of Staigue Fort in ancient days, filled with buildings or tents, people, smoking fires, and bleating animals. Nowadays, the bleating animals are the only ones still around.

We went to Staigue Fort several times during our two-week stay at our rental home, Pier Cottage. Located only a few miles from us, it drew us back again and again. Whether we went in the pouring rain, gentle drizzle, or sunshine, something about the power in these ancient stones called to us.

Visiting Staigue Fort

Cross the bridge to get to Staigue Fort

Staigue Fort is located in Castlecove, which is 3 miles west of Sneem, and about 4 miles east of Caherdaniel, on the North side of the Ring of Kerry (N70). There is one small sign at the turn off the Ring of Kerry. There are a few small signs as you go along, but really, there are only a few turnoffs. Keep going straight. Keep watch for hikers (they are everywhere).

The Staigue Fort Exhibition Centre is located near the Ring of Kerry, a few miles from Staigue Fort. It’s visible from the turnoff, and is on the west side of the road. It has a video presentation, as well as a small coffeeshop.

Staigue Fort is located on private land. There is a small parking lot with free parking. There’s a gate with a box – the farmer who owns the field asks for a 1 Euro donation per person.

To get to the fort, walk through the gate and over a lovely small bridge. Wind your way up a small, hillocky slope. There is a flock of sheep grazing here – be aware and watch your step! Near the fort, there is a telescope available to use for a small fee. The single entrance to the fort is on the right, about a quarter of the way around from the entrance gate. Squeeze through and enter history!

Archaeology Travel’s Guest Blogger

Jessie Voigts is constantly looking for ways to increase intercultural understanding and exploring the world. She has lived and worked in Japan and London, and traveled around the world. Jessie is the publisher of Wandering Educators, a travel site for global educators. Jessie has a PhD in Comparative and International Development Education from the University of Minnesota. Her research focus was on cross-cultural adaptation and study abroad. For Jessie, international education is about being curious about the world; exploring and learning about other cultures and places.

On Archaeology Travel

• Staigue Fort – coming soon, with archaeological sites in Ireland
• Staigue Fort – Jessie Voigts’s photogallery
• Self guided tour of Hill Forts of Western Europe

Resources

• Staigue Fort Exhibition Centre
• 360° view of the inside of Staigue Fort
• Ireland (Oxford Archaeological Guides) by Andy O`Halpin and Conor Newman (also available on Amazon.com)