The Modern Antiquarian

The Modern Antiquarian: A Pre-Millennial Odyssey Through Megalithic Britain is a book written by Julian Cope, published in 1998. It explores a number of sites of Britain's megalithic heritage, including Stonehenge and Avebury. As well as stone circles, The Modern Antiquarian includes other megalithic monuments, hill forts, barrows and unusual places.

In the introduction Cope explains how a visit to Avebury Stone Circle inspired his enthusiasm for the subject. He was disappointed with the quality of available guidebooks, so decided to write his own. He visited and researched hundreds of sites over eight years, selecting about 300 of the most significant for the book.

The book is divided into two sections, the first being ten essays by Cope about various aspects of megalithic British culture. The second section and the bulk of the book is a geographically arranged gazetteer of the sites. Each entry includes an essay, directions to the site, map references, Cope's own account of his visit, photographs, drawings and (sometimes) poems.

Influence

A documentary film of the same name was made for the BBC in mid-2000.

Based on the guidebook The Modern Antiquarian website was launched in 2000.^[1] It invites users to add their own knowledge, research and photographs of the ancient sites of Britain and Ireland and currently holds information on over 7,400 archaeological sites.

In October 2004 Cope published the follow-up volume The Megalithic European on 300 sites scattered across Europe and Scandinavia.

See also

• European Megalithic Culture
• Neolithic Europe
• Megalithic architectural elements
• Dolmen
• Aubrey Burl's Guide to stone circles

References

• Burl, Aubrey (1995). A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-06331-8. OCLC 31435299. 
• Cope, Julian (1998). The Modern Antiquarian. London: Thorsons. ISBN 978-0-7225-3599-8. OCLC 40144018. 

External links

• The Modern Antiquarian