This volume in our new Reflections series celebrates the academic career of leading British prehistorian Alex Gibson as seen through his many contributions to collected works and monographs published by Oxbow Books. In collaboration with the author, we have selected papers that reflect some of the major themes that have been the subject of his long-term research.

Alex has devoted decades of research to the analysis and understanding of prehistoric pottery, especially Neolithic and Beaker ceramics. He has looked beyond the pots themselves to examine all aspects of production, distribution, chronology and depositional contexts of recovery, taking an holistic approach to interpretation of both the functional and social role of early ceramics and their relationships with settlement, funerary and ceremonial structures and events.

The chapters also explore Alex’s major contributions to the study of Neolithic barrows, timber circles and palisaded enclosures and the ever-elusive evidence for Beaker associated settlement. In these chapters we see demonstrated the breadth and development of some of Alex’s key interests and most influential ideas that continue to inspire scholars and underpin our understanding of material culture in prehistory.