Britain BC: Life in Britain and Ireland before the Romans by Francis Pryor, HarperCollins, 拢25, ISBN 0007126921 Reviewed by Barry Cunliffe
GIVEN the popularity of archaeology as a television spectator sport there is a surprising dearth of readable and authoritative books on the prehistory of Britain. The problem, I suspect, is that the subject matter is growing so rapidly, and interpretations change so fast, that most practitioners are frightened off. Not so Francis Pryor, whose idiosyncratic book Britain BC, perfectly fills the gap.
As a practising archaeologist of long-standing, Pryor is well aware of the difficulty of dealing with archaeological data. He is sceptical of smart generalities and fashionable interpretations and readily admits to being bored by the trivialising detail that can so often obscure the excitement of the story. And it is the story of human endeavour that is his driving theme 鈥� beginning with the handful of hunting groups that roamed the land half a million years ago, and ending with the densely settled landscape of Britain on the eve of the Roman interlude.
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Pryor鈥檚 great skill lies in his careful choice of case studies of excavations to illuminate his vision of prehistory. He gives us vivid vignettes, complete with character sketches of the personalities involved, ranging from the earliest hominid discovery in a gravel quarry at Boxgrove in Sussex to new interpretations of the water-logged Iron Age village at Glastonbury in Somerset. Each is presented from the author鈥檚 particular viewpoint, underscored with a good measure of shrewd personal comment. He includes his own work at Flag Fen in East Anglia.
The result is a compulsive narrative intertwining prehistory, the excitement of discovery and personalities. It bounds along, wonderfully enlivened by Pryor鈥檚 earthy enthusiasm.
If you want to be introduced painlessly to the fascinating debates surrounding our British past then Britain BC is the book for you.