Pagan Britain

Pagan Britain traces the development of belief and ritual from the Palaeolithic era through late prehistory, Roman rule and the arrival of Christianity. Ronald Hutton assesses what monuments, artefacts, inscriptions, earthworks, pits, burials and legends can reveal about religious practice, while recognising the limits of the surviving evidence.

The book visits major sacred sites including Stonehenge, Avebury, Seahenge, Maiden Castle and Anglesey, alongside less familiar locations on the mainland and coastal islands. Its chronological account considers the growth of monument-building, the Roman introduction of temples and images, and the conversion to Christianity as both religious conflict and cultural blending. A concluding discussion considers the changing meaning of paganism in medieval Britain.