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Ancestors: A prehistory of Britain in seven burials Hardcover – May 27, 2021

by Alice Roberts (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,657 ratings
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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

An extraordinary exploration of the ancestry of Britain through seven burial sites. By using new advances in genetics and taking us through important archaeological discoveries, Professor Alice Roberts helps us better understand life today.

‘This is a terrific, timely and transporting book - taking us heart, body and mind beyond history, to the fascinating truth of the prehistoric past and the present’ Bettany Hughes

We often think of Britain springing from nowhere with the arrival of the Romans. But in Ancestors, anthropologist, broadcaster and academic Professor Alice Roberts explores what we can learn about the very earliest Britons, from burial sites and by using new technology to analyse ancient DNA.

Told through seven fascinating burial sites, this groundbreaking prehistory of Britain teaches us more about ourselves and our history: how people came and went and how we came to be on this island. It explores forgotten journeys and memories of migrations long ago, written into genes and preserved in the ground for thousands of years.

This is a book about belonging: about walking in ancient places, in the footsteps of the ancestors. It explores our interconnected global ancestry, and the human experience that binds us all together. It’s about reaching back in time, to find ourselves, and our place in the world.

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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster UK
  3. Publication date
    May 27, 2021
  4. Dimensions
    6.02 x 1.22 x 9.21 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1471188019
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1471188015
  7. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster UK (May 27, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1471188019
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1471188015
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.38 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.02 x 1.22 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,657 ratings

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Alice Roberts

Alice Roberts

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
1,657 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

linda s
5.0 out of 5 stars ANCESTORS....A REVIEW.
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2023
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Although this isn't my usual reading material, I really enjoyed this book. Her style of writing paints a good picture of what she saw and what it meant. To my surprise, I found the subject of prehistoric burials to be fascinating.
2 people found this helpful
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Edward
4.0 out of 5 stars Spoiled By Woke
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2021
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The book is well researched and well written. Its for amateurs, like me. The subject matter is fascinating. However, about 3/4 thru, the author, while telling us not to impose current societal norms and issues on ancient cultures, goes on and on about the possibility, with no evidence whatsoever, of trans men and women living thousands of years ago. It may be possible but the only reason it was brought up was because of current events. She imposed her personal belief/understanding of current societal issues on the past. Exactly what she said to not do. That was disappointing and reduced her credibility. The fact that gender roles were fluid at various times is not proof of fluid sexual identity. I'm sure there were gay men, lesbian women and more. But, illustrate that with science. If there is no science then why bring it up?
50 people found this helpful
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James W. Brush
5.0 out of 5 stars Ancient discoveries in English ancestors with new DNA discoveries
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2021
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This book covers what they purported to evaluating ancient burial sites in Britain. There is much left to analyze w ith DNA and she leaves us there waiting for more. She builds on the discoveries of late 18th and early 19th centuries who explored the grave sites on their estates finding mass burials and early villages from prehistory up to the post Roman era. I found it interesting with a personal style of writing.
8 people found this helpful
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Stuart Georgitis
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, thorough, unbiased, thought provoking.
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2022
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I was captivated by the description of early archaeological finds and the interpretations of the day. Then the progression through reinterpretation as science provided more data and specific environmental facts. So it is a history of finds, interpretations, and scientific technologies from the first bone, tool, ornament and soil collectors right up to current DNA and isotopic ratio analyses. It was refreshing that nothing was sensationalized or strung together for some tantalizing conjecture. The facts and unanswered questions were thrilling enough in their own naked merit. Very well done.
3 people found this helpful
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Debra Morse
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating work!
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2021
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I loved this book. Very well written! Hope to purchase more works authored by Alice Roberts.
5 people found this helpful
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LA in Dallas
3.0 out of 5 stars Archaeologistology
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2023
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The word "archaeology" can mean two things -- it can refer to the things that archaeologists are interested in or the things that archaeologists do. Typically when someone says, "I'm interested in archaeology" you would assume they meant the former: that they are interested in early humans, particularly as reflected in their material remains. But if that person was a sociologist speaking in her professional capacity, you might instead think she means the second thing: the activities and interactions of archaeologists. I will refer to the first subject by the shorthand "human prehistory" and the second "archaeologistology".

Cards on the table: I personally am far more interested in human prehistory than archaeologistology. Based on the evidence of this book, Alice Roberts is more interested in archaeologistology. Ancestors would more accurately have been subtitled "A history of two centuries of British archaeologists".

This begins in chapter 1, which is about several modern archaeologists planning a large-scale application of new technology (genome sequencing) to all the ancient skeletons they can lay hands on, but comes to full flower in chapter 2, "The Red Lady". The Red Lady of Paviland is the skeleton of a man (yes, really) who lived and died 33,000 years ago in Wales. Roberts has far less to tell us about this man than about a man who lived much more recently, the pioneering English archaeologist William Buckland who discovered the skeleton and drew a number of almost uniformly wrong conclusions about it. He was a character, and Roberts clearly loves to tell about him and all the pioneering women archaeologists who helped him out and got little credit for it. She also tells us about later archaeologists who came along later and set Buckland's errors right.

Look, Buckland was an interesting person -- no doubt about it. But stories about him tell us very little about human prehistory. They tell us much more about archaeologistology, specifically the history of British archaeology.

And so it goes. Roberts takes us through her seven burials, using them to describe two centuries of British archaeology, its advances and controversies. She does occasionally touch on human prehistory -- this typically happens when she quotes some actual archaeologist whom she interviewed. (Roberts, it should be said, is at this point in her career more of a television personality than a practicing archaeologist. Nothing wrong with that, especially as she knows her stuff, especially when it comes to bones.) It is completely clear that the archaeologists Roberts talked to are much more interested in human prehistory than in archaeologistology.

I have another bone to pick with Roberts. Her discussions of archaeologistology are tediously prescriptive. She will go on for pages about what archaeologists SHOULD do, and especially what they should NOT do. These are obviously important questions, but they receive far too much attention in Ancestors.

In summary, I was disappointed. I read Ancestors in the hope of learning more about prehistoric Britons. In the event, I mostly learned about British archaeologists, who are, in broad outline, pretty similar to American molecular biologists or German physicists, or academics anywhere.
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Top reviews from other countries

philip smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking excellent book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 23, 2024
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A great read that makes you think and appreciate the past. Well written by Alice, not just facts but expirences.Alice opens your mind to the way our ancestors may have lived and died. Looking forward to another book of hers. Many thanks!
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Terence Fenton
5.0 out of 5 stars exellent author
Reviewed in France on July 21, 2021
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well laid out
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Dr David P Thomas
5.0 out of 5 stars Very accessible stroll through British prehistory.
Reviewed in Australia on June 28, 2022
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Professor Roberts writes in a very accessible style to bring the reader right up to date with current research directions on British prehistory. This is a subject about which she has been involved as broadcaster and author for many years and about which she is both authoritive and a great communicator.
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Amazonian Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and interesting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 28, 2022
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Ancestors: a Prehistory of Britain in Seven Burials does exactly what it says on the tin. Professor Alice Roberts takes us on a tour through prehistory by examining seven ancient burial sites starting with the Red Lady, interred 34,000 years ago on the Gower peninsula, and ending with the comparitively recent charioteer burials of the Iron Age.

As well as providing an investigation of mortuary practice and an exploration of funerary rituals and rites, the burials in the book have been carefully selected to allow for an examination of the evolution of archaeological techniques too. So not only do we learn about our ancient ancestors, we also find out about the early archaeologists who first discovered these graves. This is brought right up-to-date with cutting edge research too, as we are introduced to the new discipline of archaeogenomics. A massive project to sequence a thousand genomes from these prehistoric bones has the potential to shed light on the migration of people and ideas, population expansion and replacement across vast amounts of time.

I love the Professor's take on things in both her documentaries and her books. Her personality and humanity shines through in the text alongside the history, with insights and thoughts such as:

"Science has provided such comprehensive answers to questions about the origin of the earth, and the universe itself, and to the emergence of these strangely brainy apes that can make some sense of it all, that there is really no room for divine revelation to compete. There are gaps to be filled, but the Bible doesn’t come near to filling them. This isn’t surprising, of course, as the Old Testament is a compilation of Bronze Age and Iron Age myths, written by people who were trying to make sense of how things were, before science spilled the beans."

It's informative, instructive and most of all, interesting. But more than that, it really makes you think about the lives of those people who came before us, their differences and similarities to us, their loves, losses, desires and enmities. In short, this book takes those dusty bones out of the museums and makes them human again.
11 people found this helpful
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Pilton
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting content
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 30, 2023
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If you are considering buying this book, you will presumably be expecting an analysis of burial rituals and what they may or may not tell us about our ancestors. The main topic is covered in sufficient for the armchair archaeologist and is accessible without descending into a dry, academic, study.

Stylistically, Alice Roberts seems to be trying to plot the middle ground between an erudite discussion and an easily digestible format. A difficult task and not one in which I am sure she has entirely succeeded. Interesting as the content was, the fluidity with which (in places) she shifted from technical analysis, to dialogue, to whimsy made it difficult to enjoy.

I was able to forgive these shortcomings however, when in the final chapters, she discussed Pitt Rivers. The content was accessible but more importantly, I was gripped by the way she challenged accepted ideas, inviting the reader to engage with a different way of thinking. Had she been able to infuse the whole of the text with this compelling style, I would have given the book five stars.
4 people found this helpful
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