The particular focus of PATHWAYS TO THE COSMOS, which is the product of a conference of the same name, is on the alignment of megalithic tombs in Ireland, Britain and Atlantic Europe. This has long been a topic of antiquarian and archaeological interest and research but interpretations and understanding of this phenomenon have changed quite dramatically over time.

These monuments celebrate the lives and beliefs of early farming communities and were built from well before 4000 BC down to beyond 2000 BC. The question of their deliberate alignment is an important and relevant topic to discuss in considering prehistoric monumentality and the meaning of those monuments for the people who built them, for research today and for their management, protection and presentation into the future.

This theme struck a chord with international colleagues. At the resulting conference and in this volume, leading authorities in the field, from Ireland, Britain and Europe show the connections between archaeology and cultural astronomy, linking the material evidence and more intangible aspects such as the cultural ideas, beliefs and ceremonies of Neolithic and Bronze Age societies, with a focus on the landscape and the skyscape.