As Archaeological Investigators for the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England and subsequently English Heritage, the authors spent well over 20 years working on the archaeological landscapes of southern England. During that time all the major monuments of the Neolithic period were investigated, Avebury, Stonehenge, Silbury Hill, and their particular brand of earthwork analysis and landscape investigation provides a unique large-scale interpretation of the period. They have prepared numerous reports and journal articles on the subject and written the definitive publication on ‘The field archaeology of Salisbury Plain Training Area’ as well as a companion volume ‘The Avebury Landscape’.
Dr Jim Leary lectures in Archaeology at the University of Reading where he also directs of Archaeology Field School. Formally a prehistorian with English Heritage and 'Field Archaeologist in Residence' at Cambridge University, Jim Leary has many years of professional archaeological experience. He has directed major excavations, including into Silbury Hill and Marden henge, and has published widely on archaeology, specifically prehistory