TO THE ISLANDS
Steven Mithen
To the Islands is the personal memoir of archaeologist Steven Mithen’s twenty-five-year quest to uncover the world of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in the Hebridean islands – and his defence of archaeology as a lifelong passion. Providing a unique insight into the world of archaeology, To the Islands recounts in fascinating detail the ongoing research Mithen has undertaken to reconstruct the lifestyles of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers who lived in the Hebrides around 7000BC – before the appearance of Neolithic farming communities. Mithen takes the reader on an epic journey which begins with the development of research plans that lead to the discovery of Mesolithic sites, and follows their subsequent excavations. It ends with a visit to the Small Isles, where the author reflects on what he has achieved during more than two decades of research in the Hebrides, and on the adventure still to come. Mithen’s engaging, fluent and effortlessly erudite style keeps the book firmly accessible to the general reader of popular science, archaeology and history.
Contains around 100 colour photographs and several maps and illustrations.
Praise for Steven Mithen's previous books:
‘A brilliant idea …[told with] Mithen’s …characteristic virtues: immense erudition, lightly worn; mastery of vast material, wielded with impressive deftness. For clarity of exposition, fluency of language, vividness of imagination, he is unrivalled in his field.’ Literary Review
‘The lucidity of Mithen’s thought and prose will inform the professional and illuminate the general reader.’ The Times
‘A BIG and important book …’ The Scotsman
About Steven Mithen
After taking a PhD in Archaeology at Cambridge in 1988, Steven Mithen became Professor of Early Prehistory at the University of Reading in 2000 where he is now a Pro Vice-Chancellor. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2004. He has extensively written on science for the general reader, as well as technical academic books. His most recent books, The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body (2005) and After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000-5000BC (2003) have been published in over ten different languages and received extensive critical praise.
We are grateful to the Scottish Arts Council for a grant towards the publication of To the Islands.
