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Ancestors: A History of Britain in Seven Burials
This book is about belonging: about walking in ancient places, in the footsteps of the ancestors. It's about reaching back in time, to find ourselves, and our place in the world.
We often think of Britain springing from nowhere with the arrival of the Romans. But in Ancestors, pre-eminent archaeologist, broadcaster and academic Professor Alice Roberts explores what we can learn about the very earliest Britons - from their burial sites. Although we have very little evidence of what life was like in prehistorical times, here their stories are told through the bones and funerary offerings left behind, preserved in the ground for thousands of years.
Told through seven fascinating burial sites, this groundbreaking prehistory of Britain teaches us more about ourselves and our history: how people came and went; how we came to be on this island.
We often think of Britain springing from nowhere with the arrival of the Romans. But in Ancestors, pre-eminent archaeologist, broadcaster and academic Professor Alice Roberts explores what we can learn about the very earliest Britons - from their burial sites. Although we have very little evidence of what life was like in prehistorical times, here their stories are told through the bones and funerary offerings left behind, preserved in the ground for thousands of years.
Told through seven fascinating burial sites, this groundbreaking prehistory of Britain teaches us more about ourselves and our history: how people came and went; how we came to be on this island.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2021
About the author
Alice Roberts
37 books625 followersAlice May Roberts is an English anatomist, osteoarchaeologist, physical anthropologist, palaeopathologist, television presenter and author.
Roberts studied medicine and anatomy at Cardiff University, qualifying in 1997 as a physician with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB BCh) degree, having gained an intercalated Bachelor of Science degree in anatomy. She earned a PhD in paleopathology in 2008 from the University of Bristol.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Roberts studied medicine and anatomy at Cardiff University, qualifying in 1997 as a physician with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB BCh) degree, having gained an intercalated Bachelor of Science degree in anatomy. She earned a PhD in paleopathology in 2008 from the University of Bristol.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 276 reviews
July 4, 2022
As a huge fan of Time Team and Digging for Britain I was always going to buy this book. As is the case with the written word this is a much more detailed version of those two programs.
The ever-knowledgeable Alice Roberts looks back at discovered burial sites and adds detailed information and her own insight to the burials from the red lady of Paviland to the Amesbury Archer and more. I expect that most people reading this book would know about a lot of these famous British burials but Roberts adds so much depth to them. It is like being in a lecture with her pointing at the screen showing photos and explaining all about them as I feverishly take notes and learning a lot.
She gets down to some juicy evidence as well. Gnawed human bones made by human teeth and cutmarks indicating cannibalism in the caves at Cheddar Gorge. Did our Neanderthal friends bury their dead? Are the Beaker people invaders? Chariot burials during Iron Age times. Intriguing stuff.
How can DNA help? She meets a team working on an archaeological genetic project. They are hoping to sequence a thousand ancient genomes.
I enjoyed the book but she seems to lose her way at the end by getting fixated on Augustus Pitt Rivers and also about how we deal with the dead. All good stuff but felt like the book took a bit of a left turn. The cause of this appears to be due to COVID and lockdown where the genetic project is put on hold and also the author’s research. Maybe a bit of padding was called for. This should not detract you from the book mind. Just an observation.
The ever-knowledgeable Alice Roberts looks back at discovered burial sites and adds detailed information and her own insight to the burials from the red lady of Paviland to the Amesbury Archer and more. I expect that most people reading this book would know about a lot of these famous British burials but Roberts adds so much depth to them. It is like being in a lecture with her pointing at the screen showing photos and explaining all about them as I feverishly take notes and learning a lot.
She gets down to some juicy evidence as well. Gnawed human bones made by human teeth and cutmarks indicating cannibalism in the caves at Cheddar Gorge. Did our Neanderthal friends bury their dead? Are the Beaker people invaders? Chariot burials during Iron Age times. Intriguing stuff.
How can DNA help? She meets a team working on an archaeological genetic project. They are hoping to sequence a thousand ancient genomes.
I enjoyed the book but she seems to lose her way at the end by getting fixated on Augustus Pitt Rivers and also about how we deal with the dead. All good stuff but felt like the book took a bit of a left turn. The cause of this appears to be due to COVID and lockdown where the genetic project is put on hold and also the author’s research. Maybe a bit of padding was called for. This should not detract you from the book mind. Just an observation.
June 9, 2021
A good introduction to a selection of recent excavations (or reconsiderations) of prehistoric sites in Britain from before the most recent Ice Age to late Iron Age and discussion of the genomic technique being used (or which will be used) to identify whether changes in culture (neolithic to copper age etc) were accompanied by influxes of settlers from the continent.
As well as a detailed consideration of the specific excavations chosen, Alice Roberts digresses occasionally with “quite interesting” facts and also onto contemporary issues (immigration, gender identity, religion and the Covid-19 pandemic), before bringing matters back to the archaeology. This can appear to be trying to bring extraneous issues to the reader’s attention, but Roberts does usually convincingly show how these current issues relate to the past, either directly or from our interpretation of the past. I did find it a bit annoying though, and it will date the book.
There is also a long second chapter about the “Red Lady” excavated at Paviland Cave, which I had read about at least twice before, but it is the major early burial, so Roberts probably had no choice but to discuss this burial.
I also formed the impression that this was not the polished book that Roberts might have hoped to complete, as some of the genome research has been delayed by prioritising Covid-19 work, and reports for other excavations have not yet been completed. However, this does not detract from the book, and makes one appreciate all the more that archaeology is a developing subject and not static.
This is my first book by Roberts, and I had not realised that she was a TV personality (although I had seen her in BBC programmes on the Celts and Stonehenge), so she does play to this expectation in her writing some of the time. This did work for me, as it made the book more personal and engaging, especially her trips to Salisbury Museum and discussion of Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (there is material for another book there!).
Overall, I enjoyed this book for the details of new excavations and the Salisbury Museum segments. I wouldn’t recommend it for your first British archaeology book (I read Britain Begins by Barry Cunliffe about five years ago and would recommend that), but it is good general book to read if you want to explore further.
Forgot to say that I was familiar with the approximate locations of the sites discussed, so it wasn’t a real issue for me, but some maps have would enhanced the book.
As well as a detailed consideration of the specific excavations chosen, Alice Roberts digresses occasionally with “quite interesting” facts and also onto contemporary issues (immigration, gender identity, religion and the Covid-19 pandemic), before bringing matters back to the archaeology. This can appear to be trying to bring extraneous issues to the reader’s attention, but Roberts does usually convincingly show how these current issues relate to the past, either directly or from our interpretation of the past. I did find it a bit annoying though, and it will date the book.
There is also a long second chapter about the “Red Lady” excavated at Paviland Cave, which I had read about at least twice before, but it is the major early burial, so Roberts probably had no choice but to discuss this burial.
I also formed the impression that this was not the polished book that Roberts might have hoped to complete, as some of the genome research has been delayed by prioritising Covid-19 work, and reports for other excavations have not yet been completed. However, this does not detract from the book, and makes one appreciate all the more that archaeology is a developing subject and not static.
This is my first book by Roberts, and I had not realised that she was a TV personality (although I had seen her in BBC programmes on the Celts and Stonehenge), so she does play to this expectation in her writing some of the time. This did work for me, as it made the book more personal and engaging, especially her trips to Salisbury Museum and discussion of Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (there is material for another book there!).
Overall, I enjoyed this book for the details of new excavations and the Salisbury Museum segments. I wouldn’t recommend it for your first British archaeology book (I read Britain Begins by Barry Cunliffe about five years ago and would recommend that), but it is good general book to read if you want to explore further.
Forgot to say that I was familiar with the approximate locations of the sites discussed, so it wasn’t a real issue for me, but some maps have would enhanced the book.
February 2, 2022
*3.5 stars
Oh, Alice.
This book would easily have been four stars had it not been for the constant soap boxing. Had I known that this would, at points, devolve into a narrative-Twitter-thread on Alice Roberts’ hot takes on why religion is senseless and silly and we should all be humanists cos everything else is backwards — not sure I would have paid £20 for that hardback, tbh. Especially loved it when she spent a good 157+ pages insinuating that people in the Victorian era were just ridiculous for being Christians (not like religion was the norm or anything), stupid for not immediately believing in evolution (a very very new science at the time) and also digging around for evidence that her fave archaeologist was actually just a closeted atheist and the method of his burial was actually just a massive protest against Christians…
I hear you thinking, wait, isn’t this book about ancient burial rites? Well, yes. For about 2/3 of it. And those 2/3 are very good! And interesting! I feel like I have learned a lot. Feel especially clearer on exact timelines now in the ancient past, and there were some quite interesting comments on archaeological points I hadn’t heard before. So, in sum, where this book is about what it purports to be about: it is done very well. She just needs an editor that is a bit (read: far) less indulgent.
Oh, Alice.
This book would easily have been four stars had it not been for the constant soap boxing. Had I known that this would, at points, devolve into a narrative-Twitter-thread on Alice Roberts’ hot takes on why religion is senseless and silly and we should all be humanists cos everything else is backwards — not sure I would have paid £20 for that hardback, tbh. Especially loved it when she spent a good 157+ pages insinuating that people in the Victorian era were just ridiculous for being Christians (not like religion was the norm or anything), stupid for not immediately believing in evolution (a very very new science at the time) and also digging around for evidence that her fave archaeologist was actually just a closeted atheist and the method of his burial was actually just a massive protest against Christians…
I hear you thinking, wait, isn’t this book about ancient burial rites? Well, yes. For about 2/3 of it. And those 2/3 are very good! And interesting! I feel like I have learned a lot. Feel especially clearer on exact timelines now in the ancient past, and there were some quite interesting comments on archaeological points I hadn’t heard before. So, in sum, where this book is about what it purports to be about: it is done very well. She just needs an editor that is a bit (read: far) less indulgent.
May 15, 2024
For the most part, Alice Roberts had me enthralled with morbid excitement at her detailed chapters about seven various burials in Britain. Some of the pages quite frankly were coming to life with the descriptions of why and how particular burials took place in certain ways, something I admittedly find very interesting. Unfortunately though, I became a little tired of her constant talk about her own personal beliefs. I have no issues with that being mentioned in a book, but when it spans over a ridiculous amount of pages; then we'll have issues.
Roberts repeatedly tells the reader that people that lived during the Victorian era were foolish for being Christians and having any sort of religious belief (despite that being the norm in that era, anyway) and various other claims about evolution and atheism that clearly wouldn't have been popular at that time. I mean, was she there?
Apart from that, I found this book fascinating and largely informative, and I've definitely come away knowing more about the subject than I did before.
Roberts repeatedly tells the reader that people that lived during the Victorian era were foolish for being Christians and having any sort of religious belief (despite that being the norm in that era, anyway) and various other claims about evolution and atheism that clearly wouldn't have been popular at that time. I mean, was she there?
Apart from that, I found this book fascinating and largely informative, and I've definitely come away knowing more about the subject than I did before.
July 26, 2022
An audio-version of this book has been sitting in my audible app library for a while now: prehistory, ancient burials, bones, paleontology -- of course, I had to buy it. I finally got to it on the verge of a trip to Britain -- after all, what could be a better suited pre-travel read than a history of Britain in seven burials.;)
Actually, the burials themselves are rather pre-history of Britain, but as the story of each burial includes the history of its initial discovery and of its further investigation, the "history" in the title is not irrelevant as many of these burials had been known since nineteenth century. In a way, this book is also the history of archaeology in seven burials. One of its main topics is DNA analysis -- the new insights into prehistory that it provides as well as its limitations.
Some readers might find this book with its constant talk about burials and bones too macabre for their taste, but I quite enjoyed it, including the overview of British burial practices from ancient to modern times. After all, paleontology and prehistory is very much about bones and burials. Besides, death doesn't disappear if we don't mention it--at least, I'm long past this pleasant illusion.
I liked that this book is written by a professional archaeologist who didn't go out of her way to dumb everything down for the benefit of general public and to please everybody. I loved that she spoke about her personal atheistic views sincerely and unapologetically.
Alice Robert's narration of the audiobook additionally enhanced my experience.
So guess what I did next? Bought her recently published Buried: An Alternative History of the First Millennium in Britain. Perhaps it will contain some of the DNA research results still missing in "Ancestors" (the ancient DNA analysis project had to be frozen in Covid times, with all the resources thrown to fight the virus). Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading it.
Actually, the burials themselves are rather pre-history of Britain, but as the story of each burial includes the history of its initial discovery and of its further investigation, the "history" in the title is not irrelevant as many of these burials had been known since nineteenth century. In a way, this book is also the history of archaeology in seven burials. One of its main topics is DNA analysis -- the new insights into prehistory that it provides as well as its limitations.
Some readers might find this book with its constant talk about burials and bones too macabre for their taste, but I quite enjoyed it, including the overview of British burial practices from ancient to modern times. After all, paleontology and prehistory is very much about bones and burials. Besides, death doesn't disappear if we don't mention it--at least, I'm long past this pleasant illusion.
I liked that this book is written by a professional archaeologist who didn't go out of her way to dumb everything down for the benefit of general public and to please everybody. I loved that she spoke about her personal atheistic views sincerely and unapologetically.
Alice Robert's narration of the audiobook additionally enhanced my experience.
So guess what I did next? Bought her recently published Buried: An Alternative History of the First Millennium in Britain. Perhaps it will contain some of the DNA research results still missing in "Ancestors" (the ancient DNA analysis project had to be frozen in Covid times, with all the resources thrown to fight the virus). Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading it.
June 6, 2021
Brilliant! This is one of the best, most readable, books covering human pre-history I've read. I thought it was going to be dry as dust (no pun intended) but Alice Roberts has a great way of communicating, which you'll know if you've seen her on tv or YouTube. She also covers the views of the early fossil hunters and how they attempted to squeeze what they were finding into their limited biblical narrative of history and how attitudes evolved into modern science.
I've read widely on human pre-history. While this book covers specific topics and burials, it brings us up to date on how genomics and DNA testing throws light on the dating of finds.
Truly a great book to read.
I've read widely on human pre-history. While this book covers specific topics and burials, it brings us up to date on how genomics and DNA testing throws light on the dating of finds.
Truly a great book to read.
June 30, 2023
4.5 stars
January 15, 2022
I listened to this on audible and absolutely loved it. It offered valuable perspective on humankind through the lens of archaeology and our ancestors. Not only was it fascinating to learn about archaeological practice and the amazing advances in understanding the human genome but it also gives impassioned insight into how beautifully connected humans are throughout the ages. I'll always be fascinated by the way we process loss and this book illuminates this age old interconnectivity we have when saying goodbye to each other in death.
January 11, 2022
Alice Roberts uses the lens of archaeology to explore British history. In many ways Roberts represents the new wave of historians who are able to approach via multiple disciplines, as Roberts expertly and effortlessly interweaves historical narrative with descriptions of ancient burials, tombs with the biographies of the pioneers who excavated them; under Roberts’s skilful pen myths are transformed into rich historical narratives and, just like the archaeologists she extolls in the book, she is able to gradually chip away at uncertainties and find new and often surprising truths.
Roberts starts with the earliest Britons, the early humans and Neanderthals who migrated here in between Ice Ages, before moving on to the waves of visitors who followed, including the earliest Celts and other peoples who populated Britain in the distant days of pre-history. Along the way Roberts also explores a multitude of subjects, from the white, male dominated history of archaeology which has irrevocably and often incorrectly skewed how we view the past, to the nature and purpose of burials, funerals and trinkets in early human societies.
Although the book is focussed on British History, in many ways it transcends geography as it explores nascent human culture and societies and how these have shaped us.
Roberts starts with the earliest Britons, the early humans and Neanderthals who migrated here in between Ice Ages, before moving on to the waves of visitors who followed, including the earliest Celts and other peoples who populated Britain in the distant days of pre-history. Along the way Roberts also explores a multitude of subjects, from the white, male dominated history of archaeology which has irrevocably and often incorrectly skewed how we view the past, to the nature and purpose of burials, funerals and trinkets in early human societies.
Although the book is focussed on British History, in many ways it transcends geography as it explores nascent human culture and societies and how these have shaped us.
February 16, 2022
Wait for the BBC series.
Because ...
- the book is missing all the lush visuals.
- a TV series would force Roberts to minimize her long-winded digression against religion--a concept that she curiously does not understand.
[A digression of my own: what is it with so-called scientists who want to appear objective that they are so lacking in imagination? She can wax eloquent about a 34000 year old man and the possible funerary rites--which undoubtedly would be religious--but seems utterly clueless about how religious faith might actually exist today.
- the book reads like a lecture, which would be much better given as a lecture. Even listening to it as audiobook becomes difficult to follow through the minutiae.
Because ...
- the book is missing all the lush visuals.
- a TV series would force Roberts to minimize her long-winded digression against religion--a concept that she curiously does not understand.
[A digression of my own: what is it with so-called scientists who want to appear objective that they are so lacking in imagination? She can wax eloquent about a 34000 year old man and the possible funerary rites--which undoubtedly would be religious--but seems utterly clueless about how religious faith might actually exist today.
- the book reads like a lecture, which would be much better given as a lecture. Even listening to it as audiobook becomes difficult to follow through the minutiae.
May 18, 2022
Fantastic book, such a fine read I want to start all over again. Excellent material, wise insights, great writing. Highly recommend
September 4, 2023
Rating is more like 3.75 stars, mostly due to lack of maps, photos and diagrams. The handful of greyscale sketches were not sufficient.
Roberts examines seven prehistoric burials found on the British Isles from before the most recent Ice Age to late Iron Age. She includes explanations of a variety of different research methods from on-site excavations, genomics, various dating methods, as well as the greater context of these findings in terms of migrations, socio-economic aspects and comparison to similar finds in mainland Europe. Roberts also discusses the evolution/progress of archaeology as a science, and occasionally digresses to the lives of some of the archaeologists involved. I found the book interesting, but not as polished as her previous publications.
Roberts examines seven prehistoric burials found on the British Isles from before the most recent Ice Age to late Iron Age. She includes explanations of a variety of different research methods from on-site excavations, genomics, various dating methods, as well as the greater context of these findings in terms of migrations, socio-economic aspects and comparison to similar finds in mainland Europe. Roberts also discusses the evolution/progress of archaeology as a science, and occasionally digresses to the lives of some of the archaeologists involved. I found the book interesting, but not as polished as her previous publications.
August 12, 2021
Spoiled By Woke
The book is well researched and well written. Its for amateurs, like me. The subject matter is fascinating. However, about 3/4 thru, the author, while telling us not to impose current societal norms and issues on ancient cultures, goes on and on about the possibility, with no evidence whatsoever, of trans men and women living thousands of years ago. It may be possible but the only reason it was brought up was because of current events. She imposed her personal belief/understanding of current societal issues on the past. Exactly what she said to not do. That was disappointing and reduced her credibility. The fact that gender roles were fluid at various times is not proof of fluid sexual identity. I'm sure there were gay men, lesbian women and more. But, illustrate that with science. If there is no science then why bring it up?
The book is well researched and well written. Its for amateurs, like me. The subject matter is fascinating. However, about 3/4 thru, the author, while telling us not to impose current societal norms and issues on ancient cultures, goes on and on about the possibility, with no evidence whatsoever, of trans men and women living thousands of years ago. It may be possible but the only reason it was brought up was because of current events. She imposed her personal belief/understanding of current societal issues on the past. Exactly what she said to not do. That was disappointing and reduced her credibility. The fact that gender roles were fluid at various times is not proof of fluid sexual identity. I'm sure there were gay men, lesbian women and more. But, illustrate that with science. If there is no science then why bring it up?
December 31, 2022
My opinion.
This book has so many fascinating tales of burials around Britain. The author is obviously knowledgeable and her style is very readable. I have learned a lot reading this book and I thank the author for writing it.
My criticisms for this book are as follows:
It would have been helpful to have had a timeline somewhere in the book to refer to, as I found myself completely at sea as to when things happened. I am not au fait with history or pre history.
I would also have appreciated some photographs of objects the author described. I liked her illustrations but they were a poor substitute for some colour photographs.
The above were irritations, however I became increasingly enraged at the authors insistence on including her own gender ideology views at every opportunity. She was at pains to describe how early historians skewed their understandings through their cultural and personal lenses and she herself was making this mistake in the most obvious and continuing way.
Please when writing a book about ancestors stick to facts and don’t bring in gender politics, and argue there could be up to 6 genders! See page 346. Let’s stick to biological sex, not the construct of gender.
If the author wishes to pen her ideological political views, which in my opinion are minority opinions, please could she put them in an appropriate and free place, eg a blog, or Twitter. I didn’t pay money to read a book on the author’s personal ideological, and in my view misguided, unscientific beliefs. I bought it to read about ‘The prehistory of Britain in seven burials’
This book has so many fascinating tales of burials around Britain. The author is obviously knowledgeable and her style is very readable. I have learned a lot reading this book and I thank the author for writing it.
My criticisms for this book are as follows:
It would have been helpful to have had a timeline somewhere in the book to refer to, as I found myself completely at sea as to when things happened. I am not au fait with history or pre history.
I would also have appreciated some photographs of objects the author described. I liked her illustrations but they were a poor substitute for some colour photographs.
The above were irritations, however I became increasingly enraged at the authors insistence on including her own gender ideology views at every opportunity. She was at pains to describe how early historians skewed their understandings through their cultural and personal lenses and she herself was making this mistake in the most obvious and continuing way.
Please when writing a book about ancestors stick to facts and don’t bring in gender politics, and argue there could be up to 6 genders! See page 346. Let’s stick to biological sex, not the construct of gender.
If the author wishes to pen her ideological political views, which in my opinion are minority opinions, please could she put them in an appropriate and free place, eg a blog, or Twitter. I didn’t pay money to read a book on the author’s personal ideological, and in my view misguided, unscientific beliefs. I bought it to read about ‘The prehistory of Britain in seven burials’
April 12, 2022
I really, really wanted to like this book. Alice Roberts is a an excellent communicator on TV, enthusiastic, expert and warm. I love her TV series, history and archaeology and was looking forward to being taken on a great journey. Unfortunately this book just did not cut it for me, after struggling heroically for days I eventually put it down before the last chapter and never picked it up again.
I actually thought it was lazily written, had the air of being rushed, poorly organised, repetitive, and actually in places quite boring. I am no slouch when it comes to difficult books but this seemed often wide of the mark for a popular historian. The first chapter, a long and pointless trudge through the history of archaeology and a deadly parade of forgotten Victorian archaeologists, of little relevance to what I expected to be the point of the book. Constant repetition - she needed a good editor. And stylistically dire - I found the constant and pointless use of hyphenated sub-clauses - like this - really annoying. I've just proved the point. The book is full of them.
Poorly structured, when it could have been so simple. And no photographs or illustrations. Where did it go so wrong?
A book that, sadly, deserves to be buried as deep as its supposed subject matter. Oh dear.
I actually thought it was lazily written, had the air of being rushed, poorly organised, repetitive, and actually in places quite boring. I am no slouch when it comes to difficult books but this seemed often wide of the mark for a popular historian. The first chapter, a long and pointless trudge through the history of archaeology and a deadly parade of forgotten Victorian archaeologists, of little relevance to what I expected to be the point of the book. Constant repetition - she needed a good editor. And stylistically dire - I found the constant and pointless use of hyphenated sub-clauses - like this - really annoying. I've just proved the point. The book is full of them.
Poorly structured, when it could have been so simple. And no photographs or illustrations. Where did it go so wrong?
A book that, sadly, deserves to be buried as deep as its supposed subject matter. Oh dear.
March 4, 2024
DNF 79%. I can stop pretending that I will ever finish this book. Don’t get me wrong, it’s well written and the author does a great job and is funny in places. I had no idea “sky burials” existed in the UK (completele with chariot and ponies standing upright). However, ancient to modern time burials in the UK just isn’t my cup of tea.
December 31, 2022
An excellent and engaging overview of British prehistory. The book covers its core topic well, and is informative. It is let down, hence the three stars, by the indulgent inclusion of cod philosophy and irrelevant wokery. A shame.
July 31, 2022
The first half of the book was magnificent. The second half got a bit preachy about the dangers of imposing presuppositions on these burials. Still, even here, she's obviously right. A fascinating look at ancient Britain.
August 17, 2022
A popular archeology book about bones found in the ground and what they tell us, using old and new techniques, about the people who’ve inhabited Britain from the Stone Ages onwards.
Not a regular interest of mine, but I’ve seen the author present some good BBC TV documentaries which she does very well, and the book was staring at me expectantly in a local bookshop, so I bought it on a curious whim.
Using several definitive burial sites which have been studied in detail the author tells us what can be deduced about those buried. The sites cover a wide range of periods, from Neanderthals of hundreds of thousands of years to Britons of fairly recent times. Some sites were opened up by Victorian enthusiasts and others are recent, and these in particular benefit from the latest analysis techniques, including DNA.
I’m happier with the dry factual side of the book really. The author is honest in saying what is and is not possible to determine from these excavations - it’s very hard to say anything about the culture, or what they believed, though grave goods and burial positions can give hints, strong ones even. It takes some time for archeologists to be even sure at what stage genuine graves were made as opposed to the human remains being accidentally buried by natural forces!
The author doesn’t let speculation get out of control regarding possible belief or cultural systems. Interesting that cannibalism is now a well established behaviour for some of the peoples excavated! Though whether for food or ceremonial reasons is unclear.
I was a bit less happy about some aspects of the presentational style. Each chapter would usually include a chatty aspect involving other experts interviewed by the author and a travelogue component when the author visited sites such as her feelings on the scenery and weather. I felt the author was almost writing a TV documentary script where shots of scenic venues and interviews would naturally be a part of the programme but I found them almost ‘padding’ for a popular science book where I was more interested in facts gleaned from the archeology.
If you’re less picky on these presentational aspects, less focused on the archeology, than me then I think this is an excellent book describing what archeology can tell us about ancient Britons over the millennia. But the aspect mentioned just knocks it back to 4* for me.
Not a regular interest of mine, but I’ve seen the author present some good BBC TV documentaries which she does very well, and the book was staring at me expectantly in a local bookshop, so I bought it on a curious whim.
Using several definitive burial sites which have been studied in detail the author tells us what can be deduced about those buried. The sites cover a wide range of periods, from Neanderthals of hundreds of thousands of years to Britons of fairly recent times. Some sites were opened up by Victorian enthusiasts and others are recent, and these in particular benefit from the latest analysis techniques, including DNA.
I’m happier with the dry factual side of the book really. The author is honest in saying what is and is not possible to determine from these excavations - it’s very hard to say anything about the culture, or what they believed, though grave goods and burial positions can give hints, strong ones even. It takes some time for archeologists to be even sure at what stage genuine graves were made as opposed to the human remains being accidentally buried by natural forces!
The author doesn’t let speculation get out of control regarding possible belief or cultural systems. Interesting that cannibalism is now a well established behaviour for some of the peoples excavated! Though whether for food or ceremonial reasons is unclear.
I was a bit less happy about some aspects of the presentational style. Each chapter would usually include a chatty aspect involving other experts interviewed by the author and a travelogue component when the author visited sites such as her feelings on the scenery and weather. I felt the author was almost writing a TV documentary script where shots of scenic venues and interviews would naturally be a part of the programme but I found them almost ‘padding’ for a popular science book where I was more interested in facts gleaned from the archeology.
If you’re less picky on these presentational aspects, less focused on the archeology, than me then I think this is an excellent book describing what archeology can tell us about ancient Britons over the millennia. But the aspect mentioned just knocks it back to 4* for me.
September 30, 2023
This book was *exactly* what I was looking for: an engaging archaeological history of Britain, with particular focus on skeletons/burials from the Paleo, Meso, and Neolithic. Delighted to find such an on-point book to nourish my anthropology fascination.
Britain is really, really rich with these burials and various contemporary structures (the standing stones of Scotland! Skara Brae! The Links of Noltland! Yorkshire chariot burials! The Cheddar Man!). Alice Roberts does a really fabulous job tying the different burials together to build a narrative of people in Britain through time - she's very accessible to any layperson.
In particular, I've not come across the Pocklington chariot burial before, and just thinking of it gives me shivers (the skeletal remains of a man sitting in the upright chariot, and the horses in the chariot harness - standing up - meaning they were buried alive). Also really enjoyed the section addressing what we know, and don't know, about the role of gender identities in the Stone Age through burials. Fascinating stuff all around.
An aside: I really cannot take British naming conventions seriously. Wetwang Slack, Winklebury Camp, Tinkley Down, Scrubbity Coppice: someone is fucking with us.
Britain is really, really rich with these burials and various contemporary structures (the standing stones of Scotland! Skara Brae! The Links of Noltland! Yorkshire chariot burials! The Cheddar Man!). Alice Roberts does a really fabulous job tying the different burials together to build a narrative of people in Britain through time - she's very accessible to any layperson.
In particular, I've not come across the Pocklington chariot burial before, and just thinking of it gives me shivers (the skeletal remains of a man sitting in the upright chariot, and the horses in the chariot harness - standing up - meaning they were buried alive). Also really enjoyed the section addressing what we know, and don't know, about the role of gender identities in the Stone Age through burials. Fascinating stuff all around.
An aside: I really cannot take British naming conventions seriously. Wetwang Slack, Winklebury Camp, Tinkley Down, Scrubbity Coppice: someone is fucking with us.
August 29, 2021
Roberts charts Britain's prehistory through various archaeological burial sites on the island. She also discusses finds on mainland Europe that tie in with migrations to and from Britain. This was a fascinating book and it had me totally enthralled from beginning to end. Definitely worth picking up.
November 15, 2022
What a remarkable book! Roberts gives a fresh take on the hidden depths of Britain’s burials, and the reaches of human imagination. From excavations in the early 1800s, with the discovery of the “Scarlet” Lady Of Paviland ( human remains later identified as male), the Cheddar Man of Gough’s Cave, to modern day genetics. She pieces together a fascinating and complex history of bones and landscape, scouring ancient places, unearthing religious and scientific ideas and taking us on a walk through the tapestries of time. The skeletal key to our past and where our ancestors took root. So so fascinating. I love learning about the origins of burial, the many unusual beliefs, and how people might have lived thousands of years ago. It blows my mind that civilisation stretches that far back. Finally, unearthed all this time later. Who were they? What is our connection to them? Though I believe in the sacredness of these sites, I’m really intrigued by the science behind Roberts’ discoveries 🌱
September 20, 2021
"The past belongs to everyone"
It takes Ancestors a while to warm up, but when it does, it is really fabulous. Roberts takes us through the detailed archaeology/anthropology of burials in Britain, exploring what we know and what we guess about what this means.
The first few chapters stick closely to explaining the science of the specifics, with various detours into similar burials, and a little history of archaeology. It is when Roberts gets the Beaker culture era - the Amesbury Archer chapter in particular - that she starts to let this tight focus, and the formality of the writing, morph into a broader conversation about the relationship between genetics as a discipline and archaeology, and the very nature of scientific enquiry.
In this fabulous passage she sums up the developments:
"Archaeologists have been asking the question about ancient migrations and culture for so long, with no real means of answering it, that the question seemed to have elevated itself to some metaphysical level – where the only means of approaching it was through theory. As one suggestion fell out of favour, another would emerge to take its place, and all of them were ultimately untestable. The debate becomes quasi-theological. How many angels could possibly dance on the head of a pin?
"Then a new branch of science comes along, with some seriously disruptive technology, and says: we may be able to provide an Answer to this Question. The priests of Archaeology stroke their beards (some of them really do have beards, even quite long ones – while many don’t) and express doubts as to whether a geneticist could even begin to understand the Question. But the geneticists go ahead and drill the bones, extract the ancient DNA, retreat to their labs, do some fancy statistics, and – like some kind of alchemist cooking up a dull lump of lead into gold – they come up with an Answer. They present it to the priests: ‘We think this is what you’ve been looking for.’ But the priests narrow their eyes, sigh and fold their hands in their laps. It's just Fools Gold', they say, "Iron pyrites. You can make fire with it. But it is not the Answer. It isn't the Answer because it doesn't agree with the sacred texts of Post-Processualism"."
But Roberts' frustration here is not one-sided. The implications of migrations being associated with the spread of the Beaker culture she puts into perspective, including the deep-seated fear of a return to processualism, which was part of a view of human development used to justify colonialism and genocide. Roberts is not afraid to talk about the politics behind scientific debate, nor to call on scientists to move through, not away, these discussions.
"Genetic identity and social or cultural identity are two separate things: sometimes they happen to coincide; sometimes they don’t. The picture is complex and complicated – and nowhere can we point to a circumscribed Beaker ‘race’. (Well, of course not – because the fundamental idea of ‘race’ is flawed. It makes no sense biologically or historically. In fact, it doesn’t make any sense to anyone apart from people who are determined to ignore complex reality in order to persist in being racist.) The spread of the Bell Beaker culture was mediated by migration, but the culture has a life of its own as well – as a network of ideas." She injects caution in reading evidence, and caution in assuming meaning.
We need to be as objective as possible in our approach to history and archaeology while recognising that our interpretations will always be coloured by our own political and cultural perspectives. "
I need to stop before this review contains half the book, but be certain: I am a fan of this, and I think it charts a way forward in a discipline that is becoming increasingly contested around unstated political assumptions. Roberts focuses on the evidence, and how we understand it - but also calls in her readers around their assumptions, excitements ("have a cup of tea" she advises, dealing with a collision of circumstances that could lead to unearned "gotcha" moments) and assumptions. This is one of the few such books I've read which discusses how most of our ancestors have left no trace in our DNA, due to the way DNA replication works. She does not ask if we are more than our DNA, she reminds us that we are. That what a Briton looks like is someone who lives in Britain, right now, and that, as always, our past belongs to all of us.
It takes Ancestors a while to warm up, but when it does, it is really fabulous. Roberts takes us through the detailed archaeology/anthropology of burials in Britain, exploring what we know and what we guess about what this means.
The first few chapters stick closely to explaining the science of the specifics, with various detours into similar burials, and a little history of archaeology. It is when Roberts gets the Beaker culture era - the Amesbury Archer chapter in particular - that she starts to let this tight focus, and the formality of the writing, morph into a broader conversation about the relationship between genetics as a discipline and archaeology, and the very nature of scientific enquiry.
In this fabulous passage she sums up the developments:
"Archaeologists have been asking the question about ancient migrations and culture for so long, with no real means of answering it, that the question seemed to have elevated itself to some metaphysical level – where the only means of approaching it was through theory. As one suggestion fell out of favour, another would emerge to take its place, and all of them were ultimately untestable. The debate becomes quasi-theological. How many angels could possibly dance on the head of a pin?
"Then a new branch of science comes along, with some seriously disruptive technology, and says: we may be able to provide an Answer to this Question. The priests of Archaeology stroke their beards (some of them really do have beards, even quite long ones – while many don’t) and express doubts as to whether a geneticist could even begin to understand the Question. But the geneticists go ahead and drill the bones, extract the ancient DNA, retreat to their labs, do some fancy statistics, and – like some kind of alchemist cooking up a dull lump of lead into gold – they come up with an Answer. They present it to the priests: ‘We think this is what you’ve been looking for.’ But the priests narrow their eyes, sigh and fold their hands in their laps. It's just Fools Gold', they say, "Iron pyrites. You can make fire with it. But it is not the Answer. It isn't the Answer because it doesn't agree with the sacred texts of Post-Processualism"."
But Roberts' frustration here is not one-sided. The implications of migrations being associated with the spread of the Beaker culture she puts into perspective, including the deep-seated fear of a return to processualism, which was part of a view of human development used to justify colonialism and genocide. Roberts is not afraid to talk about the politics behind scientific debate, nor to call on scientists to move through, not away, these discussions.
"Genetic identity and social or cultural identity are two separate things: sometimes they happen to coincide; sometimes they don’t. The picture is complex and complicated – and nowhere can we point to a circumscribed Beaker ‘race’. (Well, of course not – because the fundamental idea of ‘race’ is flawed. It makes no sense biologically or historically. In fact, it doesn’t make any sense to anyone apart from people who are determined to ignore complex reality in order to persist in being racist.) The spread of the Bell Beaker culture was mediated by migration, but the culture has a life of its own as well – as a network of ideas." She injects caution in reading evidence, and caution in assuming meaning.
We need to be as objective as possible in our approach to history and archaeology while recognising that our interpretations will always be coloured by our own political and cultural perspectives. "
I need to stop before this review contains half the book, but be certain: I am a fan of this, and I think it charts a way forward in a discipline that is becoming increasingly contested around unstated political assumptions. Roberts focuses on the evidence, and how we understand it - but also calls in her readers around their assumptions, excitements ("have a cup of tea" she advises, dealing with a collision of circumstances that could lead to unearned "gotcha" moments) and assumptions. This is one of the few such books I've read which discusses how most of our ancestors have left no trace in our DNA, due to the way DNA replication works. She does not ask if we are more than our DNA, she reminds us that we are. That what a Briton looks like is someone who lives in Britain, right now, and that, as always, our past belongs to all of us.
March 17, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. I had never really considered how much information we could get from how are forebears treated their loved ones after death and what that could possibly mean. I had also not thought about how much new information can be gained from bones that are many millenia old and have already been looked at. DNA. If bodies are found with small remnants of bone and are not easily sexed (due to the bone found or the part of the bone found) then any surrounding burial artefacts will help interpret the sex of the bones. This has obviously assumed that male bones are likely to be surrounded by war paraphernalia and female bones aren't. DNA can help contradict some of these assumptions. Maybe there were some very important, leaders whose DNA prove were female. Indeed, that's more than likely. As proved as things can be that are so aged. Also how people were buried. Group burial sites. Burials of people in their chariots with horses, all set up, standing, exactly as in life. Anyway, as ever, I'm rubbish at explaining how interesting and thought provoking this book was. The only thing I would say is that it really was unnecessary and I felt I was being preached to in the last chapter with extensive discussion about gender and sex. Obviously bones can, at best, only tell us the genotypic sex of the person. That can't tell us how people chose to present. Yes, it's interesting that there are multiple examples of very important women who were leaders and fought wars, but I'm not sure that this is particularly surprisingly. Monotheistic religion was extremely sexist, but, prior to that, there was far more equality and women were not the 'add ons' in society. Those comments and discussion were interesting but to start extrapolating that to gender, sex and identity and drawing comparisons to the current trans debate felt unhelpful and 'preachy'. It's a shame that was the last chapter as the rest of the book treated me like an equal whereas in the last chapter I was made to feel like a naughty child who didn't think the right way. Still very highly recommended.
November 30, 2021
This was a lovely, engaging book. The writing almost felt like I was “watching” a BBC documentary so I wasn’t surprised when I found out the author was a TV presenter. She writes in a very chatty, “come along with me” style, especially when undertaking trips to museums and discussing some of the “personalities” who have been involved in archaeology since the 18th century.
As most of my interest is in the medieval world, this was an educational experience for me to learn about the prehistoric sites in Britain. I felt her use of modern issues such as gender and status were relevant to these past burials (although maybe she did stretch it a bit at times!) But it is interesting how archaeology has developed over the past two centuries and what once may have been assumed is now being questioned, for e.g if a female skeleton is buried with a sword (was it symbolic, related to status or was she a “warrior”) or a male skeleton buried with beads and other decorative items (these skeletons were always assumed to be female initially)
I also found her dwellings on whether or not the earliest burials WERE deliberate burials or just left to nature fascinating and the development of the concept of an “after-life”. And when these ancient burials were discovered how Christian religions attempted to reconcile these discoveries with the stories of the Bible e.g. the great flood.
This book has has definitely piked my interest in reading more about our ancient ancestors.
As most of my interest is in the medieval world, this was an educational experience for me to learn about the prehistoric sites in Britain. I felt her use of modern issues such as gender and status were relevant to these past burials (although maybe she did stretch it a bit at times!) But it is interesting how archaeology has developed over the past two centuries and what once may have been assumed is now being questioned, for e.g if a female skeleton is buried with a sword (was it symbolic, related to status or was she a “warrior”) or a male skeleton buried with beads and other decorative items (these skeletons were always assumed to be female initially)
I also found her dwellings on whether or not the earliest burials WERE deliberate burials or just left to nature fascinating and the development of the concept of an “after-life”. And when these ancient burials were discovered how Christian religions attempted to reconcile these discoveries with the stories of the Bible e.g. the great flood.
This book has has definitely piked my interest in reading more about our ancient ancestors.
August 21, 2021
What I mostly take away from this is the sense of how many unanswered but compelling questions the archaeological discovery of the past holds. This is particularly true of burials though in the very early days indeed of Homo sapiens, very little can be clearly understood. There is a cave with human bones gnawed by other humans, for instance. But is cannibalism here motivated by hunger, or contempt for a fallen enemy or possibly by a kind of reverence for the d/ead and I need to take in their essence? or something else entirely? We don't know. What does seem clear is that many burials challenge our own preconceptions about gender and status. I'm interested that some reviews here find this unconvincing, but what do we say about a chariot burial with a woman's body or a sword buried next to a child? it's important to recognise just how little we really understand,stay open minded and evidence-based and not to project our own culture onto that of the past.
June 18, 2021
Interesting but hard going at times particularly the section relating to gender and grave goods. I nearly gave up at this point as I felt the argument was just going round in circles becoming increasingly over complexed and over stated. I did expect more to be revealed from DNA analysis but it’s only when you get to the end that you find out they that sits in a still to be done pile because of the pandemic. No doubt a further book will follow in due course
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2023
I really wanted to like this book, as I find ancient burial practices fascinating and enjoy visiting sites local to me. The book starts off strong, the section about Cheddar Gorge is particularly interesting, but I'm afraid I had to give up in the last quarter of the book. This part feels like it wasn't proof-read, is repetitive and a slog to read through. Ancestors is full of interesting anecdotes but could have been condensed a bit.
March 25, 2024
Actually I find parts of this book much better than the three stars I have given it, but there is something about it that makes me want to give it three. I also believe that either I’ve previously read this book or I own enough books on this subject that they all fairly agree in discussions and discoveries that I can stop buying books about burial grounds, antiquities, and bodies. I do think this is one of the better ones, so yes, buy this one. But once again, I’m not sure why….
October 10, 2023
Archaeologistology
The word "archaeology" can mean two things -- it can refer to the things that archaeologists are interested in or the things that archaeologists do. Typically when someone says, "I'm interested in archaeology" you would assume they meant the former: that they are interested in early humans, particularly as reflected in their material remains. But if that person was a sociologist speaking in her professional capacity, you might instead think she means the second thing: the activities and interactions of archaeologists. I will refer to the first subject by the shorthand "human prehistory" and the second "archaeologistology".
Cards on the table: I personally am far more interested in human prehistory than archaeologistology. Based on the evidence of this book, Alice Roberts is more interested in archaeologistology. Ancestors would more accurately have been subtitled "A history of two centuries of British archaeologists".
This begins in chapter 1, which is about several modern archaeologists planning a large-scale application of new technology (genome sequencing) to all the ancient skeletons they can lay hands on, but comes to full flower in chapter 2, "The Red Lady". The Red Lady of Paviland is the skeleton of a man (yes, really) who lived and died 33,000 years ago in Wales. Roberts has far less to tell us about this man than about a man who lived much more recently, the pioneering English archaeologist William Buckland who discovered the skeleton and drew a number of almost uniformly wrong conclusions about it. He was a character, and Roberts clearly loves to tell about him and all the pioneering women archaeologists who helped him out and got little credit for it. She also tells us about later archaeologists who came along later and set Buckland's errors right.
Look, Buckland was an interesting person -- no doubt about it. But stories about him tell us very little about human prehistory. They tell us much more about archaeologistology, specifically the history of British archaeology.
And so it goes. Roberts takes us through her seven burials, using them to describe two centuries of British archaeology, its advances and controversies. She does occasionally touch on human prehistory -- this typically happens when she quotes some actual archaeologist whom she interviewed. (Roberts, it should be said, is at this point in her career more of a television personality than a practicing archaeologist. Nothing wrong with that, especially as she knows her stuff, especially when it comes to bones.) It is completely clear that the archaeologists Roberts talked to are much more interested in human prehistory than in archaeologistology.
I have another bone to pick with Roberts. Her discussions of archaeologistology are tediously prescriptive. She will go on for pages about what archaeologists SHOULD do, and especially what they should NOT do. These are obviously important questions, but they receive far too much attention in Ancestors.
In summary, I was disappointed. I read Ancestors in the hope of learning more about prehistoric Britons. In the event, I mostly learned about British archaeologists, who are, in broad outline, pretty similar to American molecular biologists or German physicists, or academics anywhere.
Blog review.
The word "archaeology" can mean two things -- it can refer to the things that archaeologists are interested in or the things that archaeologists do. Typically when someone says, "I'm interested in archaeology" you would assume they meant the former: that they are interested in early humans, particularly as reflected in their material remains. But if that person was a sociologist speaking in her professional capacity, you might instead think she means the second thing: the activities and interactions of archaeologists. I will refer to the first subject by the shorthand "human prehistory" and the second "archaeologistology".
Cards on the table: I personally am far more interested in human prehistory than archaeologistology. Based on the evidence of this book, Alice Roberts is more interested in archaeologistology. Ancestors would more accurately have been subtitled "A history of two centuries of British archaeologists".
This begins in chapter 1, which is about several modern archaeologists planning a large-scale application of new technology (genome sequencing) to all the ancient skeletons they can lay hands on, but comes to full flower in chapter 2, "The Red Lady". The Red Lady of Paviland is the skeleton of a man (yes, really) who lived and died 33,000 years ago in Wales. Roberts has far less to tell us about this man than about a man who lived much more recently, the pioneering English archaeologist William Buckland who discovered the skeleton and drew a number of almost uniformly wrong conclusions about it. He was a character, and Roberts clearly loves to tell about him and all the pioneering women archaeologists who helped him out and got little credit for it. She also tells us about later archaeologists who came along later and set Buckland's errors right.
Look, Buckland was an interesting person -- no doubt about it. But stories about him tell us very little about human prehistory. They tell us much more about archaeologistology, specifically the history of British archaeology.
And so it goes. Roberts takes us through her seven burials, using them to describe two centuries of British archaeology, its advances and controversies. She does occasionally touch on human prehistory -- this typically happens when she quotes some actual archaeologist whom she interviewed. (Roberts, it should be said, is at this point in her career more of a television personality than a practicing archaeologist. Nothing wrong with that, especially as she knows her stuff, especially when it comes to bones.) It is completely clear that the archaeologists Roberts talked to are much more interested in human prehistory than in archaeologistology.
I have another bone to pick with Roberts. Her discussions of archaeologistology are tediously prescriptive. She will go on for pages about what archaeologists SHOULD do, and especially what they should NOT do. These are obviously important questions, but they receive far too much attention in Ancestors.
In summary, I was disappointed. I read Ancestors in the hope of learning more about prehistoric Britons. In the event, I mostly learned about British archaeologists, who are, in broad outline, pretty similar to American molecular biologists or German physicists, or academics anywhere.
Blog review.
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