Annie's Reviews > Ancestors: A prehistory of Britain in seven burials

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.