The Materiality of Stone is the third in a series of books by Tilley dealing with landscape, phenomenology and experience. The first volume, A phenomenology of landscape (1994), was undoubtedly one of the most important books of the 1990s and inspired an entire generation of archaeologists to undertake landscape studies. The second volume, Metaphor and Material Culture (1999), was perhaps not as successful as Phenomenology, but still contained some interesting case studies. So how's this third episode going? The book contains only five chapters, a theoretical introduction, a short theoretical conclusion, and three long, detailed case study chapters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay For me, the theoretical introduction didn't say anything that I hadn't already heard before. This chapter is essentially a guided tour of various theoretical approaches such as phenomenology, experiential, considerations of place, and how people interact with the world. For students who wish to read on these topics, I would personally recommend that they read some of Tilley's earlier, more detailed and, in my opinion, superior discussions of these topics. And while we're on the subject of theory, the book is also curiously structural in its approach to the archaeological record, and this is echoed in the introductory chapter, where Tilley highlights a series of oppositions in the way the body interacts with the world. I was quite surprised by such a strong structuralist approach here, especially as it strives to highlight the problems of mind/body and culture/nature dualism. I wondered whether Tilley could have used a more nuanced and subtle approach rather than resorting to binary oppositions. That said, the introduction does exactly what it says on the tin: it reminds readers where Tilley comes from when he goes out into the field and engages with places. It certainly is a good short summary of his previous work. Chapter two is a detailed consideration of Breton menhirs and was for me the least satisfactory of the three case study chapters. Tilley discusses in detail the settings, groupings, and properties of these standing stones. There are many beautiful descriptions of the stones themselves and Tilley skillfully evokes the individual character of the menhirs. He admits in the first chapter that he will use "thick" description, and this works well in places, particularly when describing the visual characteristics of the stones, but it is often so thick that the reader can easily lose track of the overall topic. . That said, Tilley presents many interesting observations about these stones, but sadly these are not developed: after presenting 50 pages of field observations, only three pages are devoted to "interpreting the stones". I felt that a lot of those interesting observations could have been developed into quite interesting ideas, which could then have been placed in a broader Neolithic context. As it is, rather disappointingly, the reader is left to make the connections themselves. In contrast, chapter three, a study of some Maltese temples, was more interesting. These incredible late Neolithic constructions were built from two of the islands' distinctive limestones, one resembling a honeycomb, the other smooth. Tilley discusses the various uses of these different types of stone in temple architecture. Again, the section on the temple experience is dense with narrative, difficult to follow if you have not visited these sites, but is followed by a much more detailed discussion section. Tilley manages quite well to connect landscape, architecture,.