Myths, Memory, Megaliths, and Modernity: The 1970s Folkloristic-Archaeological Place-Writing of Colin and Janet Bord. A Retrospective

The books of Janet and Colin Bord are widely known within folklore studies. They detail the typologies of lore and narratives associated mainly with prehistoric megalithic and earthwork sites in the British landscape. They are essentially accessible folklore guidebooks for archaeological sites, with evocative photographs and clear written analysis that capture their sense of place. This article considers four of their guides written in the 1970s to early 1980s, at the zenith of the Earth Mysteries movement, yet also at a time when the British archaeological establishment was still focused on functional analysis. We argue that the Bords’ work foreshadows 1980s developments in approaching archaeological landscapes from a more interpretive, embodied, and numinous perspective. It is an important link because it has implications for bringing together the so-called academic and non-academic approaches to the landscapes of prehistoric Britain in what detractors may term a ‘postmodern turn’.