It is not often that a new idea enters the world of ancient and medieval history, but in Facing the Ocean Barry Cunliffe presents a fresh approach that will change our view of the European past. After many years of research and fieldwork, he has come to believe that the peoples of Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, Spain, Portugal, and Gibraltar all share an identity shaped by thousands of years of living along the Atlantic shore.
Facing the Ocean shows that Celts, Bretons, and Galicians had a closer kinship with seafaring neighbours than with their English, French, and Spanish countrymen. Indeed the very act of living on the edge of the world created a collective consciousness that was, and is still today, specifically ‘Atlantic’—an identity that has produced cultures of great inventiveness and works of art of beauty and originality.
Exploring almost 10,000 years of human life—from the mesolithic hunter-gatherers who first exploited fish and fruits to fifteenth-century explorers who found lands beyond the horizon—Facing the Ocean at last accords the Atlantic its rightful place in European history.
Beautiful illustrations bring the evidence to life—from photographs of the hard rocks and promontories of the Atlantic coast to stunning art that retells enthralling legends of lost continents and ocean monsters.
The contributors show how our understanding of the past has changed, reveal the exciting ideas under current debate, and offer their visions of the future.
The result is a remarkable overview of world archaeology, focusing on new and unexpected themes at the cutting edge of the discipline.
