"The book begins by looking at the character of Neolithic landscapes, and the use of space inside and outside houses. The importance of the dead and the ancestors is illuminated by discussing the history of several individual sites, and the creation of the spectacular monumental landscapes characteristic of the Irish Neolithic is explored. Pottery and stone axeheads are the foci of a discussion of the ways in which people used material culture. Finally, the issue of local, regional and wider identities is used to place Neolithic Ireland in a wider west European context."--BOOK JACKET.