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Trubshaw, Bob "Sacred Places. Prehistory and Public Imagination". Heart of Albion Press, Wymeswold, LE12 6UJ, 2005. Pbk, xiv, 203pp. Illus, figures, bibliography, index. ISBN 1-872883-67-2, £16.95 but available from Heart of Albion for £14.95 post free.

I expect some people may know of the author, Bob Trubshaw, from his excellent work in the "earth mysteries" scene, in particular editing "Mercian Mysteries" and "At the Edge" or from his publishing work with Heart of Albion Press. If not, he stands at the crossroads, if you like, of the alternative archaeology sub-culture, mainstream academic archaeology, folklore and popular culture. A such he has championed a middle way between academic archaeology and those who operate outside of the academic world, a conversation which has become joined by many others in recent years, coming from both "traditions".

This book then, serves as an introduction to elements of those traditions, both for the participants and for interested "on-lookers", those consumers of the spectacle of "archaeology" ("Time Team" et al), the "heritage industry" and amateur archaeologists and historians in Britain. In particular it will be of great value to those who have not been aware of the changes in the theoretical approaches to archaeology that have been emerging from the academic world (partly as a response to theories associated with post-structuralism and post-modernism, and partly in response to the alternative scene). If, on the one hand, your impression of archaeology is limited to "holes" and "goodies" or the search for buried treasure or, on the other, your ideas about the past are still stuck in the Romantic myths of the 1960's and 1970's, then I recommend you get hold of this book and find out what's been happening recently.

Bob's book is in two broad sections. The first deals with the theory of place, the problematics associated with the "sacred" (as opposed to the "mundane" or "secular"). It deals with the mythology of place and how different cultures have different ways of experiencing place, including the western "focus" on the visual, in distinction to other cultures use of the auditory and other senses to get a sense of "place". This part also touches on themes such as the notion "landscape" (readers of Simon Schama's excellent book "Landscape and Memory" will have some idea about this) and the way, in British (indeed even English) culture, there has been a long tradition of romanticising the "rural" and the national mythologies have been created about places and times.

He shows how both academia and the alternative scene, have, in their own ways been involved in the production of such mythological narratives and then how in more recent years, certain academics have come to realise that their own theoretical assumptions needed to be questioned and that, in Bob's words, the "logical positivist" approach simply was insufficient and occasionally plain wrong when it came to "understanding" (or more correctly, constructing narratives about) the "past". Of course, there is no privileged "place" for the discussion or creation of such narratives, certainly not the university or the tipi. Rather we should all partake of the conversation relating to the past.

As this book is about the public imagination, i.e. how the past is experienced, consumed, re-produced within our culture, as opposed say to yet another "true story" about the past (as passive object) he deals quite comprehensively with what one can call the "alternative archaeology" scenes - which takes in all manner topics such as ley lines, dowsing, earth energies, pagan beliefs and practices, earth lights, Great / Earth / Mother Goddesses and the like. As a participant in some of this Bob is well placed to comment on what the decline and fall of alternative archaeology, and people still stuck in those paradigms would be well advised to read this book a.s.a.p.

The second, shorter, section deals with three specific locations: Wiltshire (with a chapter each on the iconic "Stonehenge" and the less so Avebury (is there a single image that "captures" Avebury?), south-west Wales and south-east Scotland (or should that be south west Scotland - the page header says "south east Scotland", the chapter heading says "south west Scotland". As it's Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway I reckon on southwest.) Anyway, that minor slip-up aside these chapters, look at how the prehistoric monuments in these locations relate both to their surroundings (what we now describe as the "landscape" - but one wonders how the land would have looked when the monuments were constructed) and to how they have been the focus for excavations, myths, reconstructions, festivals and tourists (or not.)

Given the scope of the book, it's inevitable that some topics are not covered in any great depth. Partly it's also due to the fact the Bob has written other books "Explore Folklore" and "Explore Mythology" which cover certain aspects in more detail. However, one of the strengths of this book is the comprehensive bibliography with 16 ½ pages of titles for people to follow up. If you're unfamiliar with the more recent texts in theoretical archaeology this book will set you on the right (straight?) track with plenty of books to look out for. Equally there is a wide selection of texts from the alternative archaeology "scene", but you may have some difficulty tracking them down as, evidently, few were deposited with the British Library and, one wonders how many other public or academic libraries have copies. Luckily Bob has placed many of the texts from his magazines on the web, so as long as the website stays up, you'll be able to read those items.

Overall the book has to be considered a thought-provoking piece of work and one that will, hopefully, encourage others to explore some of the material referred to herein. Apart from the slip mentioned above I noticed a couple of other places which seemed to contain historical inaccuracies, but maybe Bob's version of the past is just as "true" as the reference works I consulted. (Or maybe that's taking post-modernism a shade too far?) In terms of value-for-money, it's very reasonably priced for what is not a mass-market book, especially if you get it from the publishers (see their website at: http://www.hoap.co.uk/general.htm#SaPl ). Bob has illustrated the text with many of his own fine photographs, which are well reproduced, and the general feel of the book is very good. In short one I can recommend to anyone interested in archaeology, popular culture, contemporary mythology or the "alternative archaeology" scene.

8/10

Richard Alexander