- Grounded, by James Canton. Black Inc, $29.99.
James Canton is a successful writer. He holds a writing position at the University of Essex. The three books he has published before Grounded all feature the English landscape - the East Anglia district in particular. Grounded is described on the front cover as "A journey through landscapes, sanctuaries and sacred places".
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The sacred places are churches. The sanctuaries are burial sites - including cemeteries and one execution-by-fire site. And the landscapes consist of evidence - above and below ground - of occupation by prehistoric people.
Canton's journeys take him to many sites - often randomly selected. He describes the site, relates its history, and includes his own thoughts and associations. But this information is not given with academic logic and precision. Rather it comes to the reader, often randomly, as Canton is driving, cycling and walking through the countryside or in discussions with his friends. This loose format allows him to digress from his subject - these digressions are sometimes irrelevant, but usually interesting.
Canton is an appreciative observer of nature; he describes the weather, he is a keen bird-watcher, identifies vegetation - trees and flowers - especially bluebells. These observations can remind him of his travels in other countries. His family members are sometimes included in his thoughts.
With this information, Canton indulges in re-imagining the past. He visits Stonehenge, and relates how, using modern technology, archeologists have discovered and studied other sites in the area that pre-date the familiar Stonehenge array.
The Coneybury Anomaly, within sight of Stonehenge, is a pit believed to contain the rubbish, or leftovers, of a large gathering that was held here between 4000BC and 3800BC. It consists mainly of the bones of animals presumably consumed at the gathering. There are no human remains. Studies of the contents of Coneybury contribute to the theory that this was the period during which hunter-gatherers transitioned to become farmers. (Mention is made of the now discredited theory of Australian First Nations people being farmers before 1788).
Although the Coneybury conclusions were reached last century, the reader is taken through the discoveries as Canton became aware of them via his observations, research and conversations with experts and his friends.
His easygoing style encourages the reader to feel a participant in his journeys. He confesses that "one of the wonders of musing on the remote past is that little can be said definitely".
This is part of the attraction of "musing on the remote past", and of the attraction of reading Grounded.
