The Great Houses of the prehistoric and early medieval periods were
enormous structures whose forms were modeled on those of domestic
dwellings. Most were built of wood rather than stone; they were used
over comparatively short periods; they were frequently replaced in the
same positions; and some were associated with exceptional groups of
artifacts. Their construction made considerable demands on human labor
and approached the limits of what was possible at the time. They seem to
have played specialized roles in ancient society, but they have been
difficult to interpret. Were they public buildings or the dwellings of
important people? Were they temples or military bases, and why were they
erected during times of crisis or change? How were their sites selected,
and how were they related to the remains of a more ancient past?
Although their currency extended from the time of the first farmers to
the Viking Age, the similarities between the Great Houses are as
striking as the differences.
This study focuses on the monumental buildings of northern and
northwestern Europe, but draws on structures over a wide area, extending
from Anatolia as far as Brittany and Norway. It employs ethnography as a
source of ideas and discusses the concept of the House Society and its
usefulness in archaeology. The main examples are taken from the
Neolithic and Iron Age periods, but this account also draws on the
archaeology of the first millennium AD. The book emphasizes the
importance of comparing archaeological sequences with one another rather
than identifying ideal social types. In doing so, it features a range of
famous and less famous sites, from Stonehenge to the Hill of Tara, and
from Old Uppsala to Yeavering.
