The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Images by Anthony Adolph

Latest Posts

Cold Aston (Long Barrow) (click to view fullsize)

<b>Cold Aston</b>Posted by Anthony Adolph

Squerryes Park (Hillfort)

<b>Squerryes Park</b>Posted by Anthony Adolph

White Horse Stone (Standing Stone / Menhir)

<b>White Horse Stone</b>Posted by Anthony Adolph

Kit's Coty (Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech)

<b>Kit's Coty</b>Posted by Anthony Adolph
I am a professional genealogist, with an interest in tracing as far back into the past as possible. We cannot name most of the numerous generations that stretch back to the time when the wonderful stones and mounds shown on this website were constructed. But this does not mean we are not connected to their builders by numerous bloodlines: indeed, DNA testing is now creating more tangible connections with these distant ancestors of ours.

In my genealogy books on Ireland and Scotland and my latest, for children (see www.anthonyadolph.co.uk/bookspage.htm) I have tried to develop this idea a little. I am working on a substantial study of the myths we have in Britain about our origins, particularly the myth of BRUTUS - myths that are partly rooted in Classical mythology, but which also draw lifeblood from the ancient stones and mounds that lie all around us.

All credit to Julian Cope for the innovative way in which he sees and describes these sites - combining scientific and archaeological fact with his own, personal reactions to these magic places, and striking exactly the right balance. "The Modern Antiquarian" has added considerable to my appreciation of British sites, and his "The Megalithic European" contributed a great deal to a recent trip to Greece, enabling us to see beyond (as he says) the overwhelming emphasis that the Greeks seem to give to the periods from the Mycenaean onwards, and the consequential belittling of anything that went before.

My TMA Content: