Staff profile

Affiliation | Room number | Telephone |
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Emeritus Professor in the Department of Archaeology | 227 |
Biography
Chris Scarre is a specialist in the prehistory of western Europe, with a particular interest in the archaeology of the Atlantic façade (Portugal, France, Britain & Ireland). He took his MA and PhD at Cambridge, the latter a study of landscape change and archaeological sites in western France. From 1990-2005 he was Assistant (later Deputy) Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. In January 2006 he took up the position of Professor of Prehistory at the Department of Archaeology at Durham. From 2013 to 2017 he was Editor of the leading international journal "Antiquity".
Chris has wide interests within archaeology and is editor of "The Human Past" (London: Thames & Hudson, revised 4th edition February 2018). He is also author with Brian Fagan of the textbook "Ancient Civilizations" (revised 4th edition 2016).
Chris has participated in fieldwork projects in Britain, France and Greece and has directed excavations at Neolithic settlement and mortuary sites in Portugal and western France. From 1995-2004 (together with French colleagues) he ran a major excavation of the Neolithic long cairn at Prissé-la-Charrière in western France. He then(2006-8) directed a study of landscape, visibility and materiality in Portugal, focusing on the excavation of two megalithic chambered tombs (Anta da Lajinha & Cabeço dos Pendentes) coupled with palaeoenvironmental analysis and field survey. In 2008 he initiated an AHRC-funded project on the buried prehistoric land surfaces associated with megalithic tombs on the small Channel Island of Herm. Four further seasons of excavation led to a radical revision of the geomorphological history of the island and the context in which the Neolithic tombs were built.
Chris completed a book "Landscapes of Neolithic Brittany" published by Oxford University Press in February 2011. This developed further his arguments about the links between landscape and monumentality, and was the fruit of 15 years research on the Breton Neolithic. His latest monograph publication (January 2020) is the edited volume "Megalithic Tombs in Western Iberia" which reports on the excavations and envrionmental work at the Anta da Lajinha, and places them in their broader geographical and cultural context of Atlantic Iberian prehistory. Other recent publications include studies of istopes and human mobility in Neolithic Britain, aDNA of megalithic burial populations in western Europe, megalithic chronologies in western Iberia, and artefacts from the Chalcolithic mega-site of Valencina de la Concepcion in southern Spain.
From 2012-2014 Chris was PI and co-director of project focusing on patterns of burial evidence in Britain and the Levant from the Neolithic to the Roman period. Funded by the John Templeton Foundation this project is collaborative with Durham colleagues Graham Philip and Charlotte Roberts (Archaeology) and Douglas Davies (Theology). The aim is to explore the patchiness of burial evidence from prehistory and to challenge the expectation that burial was a 'normative' practice in early societies. The proceedings of the conference held in 2014 "Engaging with the Dead" (eds. Bradbury & Scarre, Oxbow 2017) were published in 2017, and research on the project is resuming in 2021.
Chris has also had a major research interest in the auditory and acoustic environment of prehistoric sites and monuments (Scarre & Lawson eds. "Archaeoacoustics" 2006), and in 2009 co-organised an AHRC Research Cluster on this theme. He was co-investigator on the AHRC-funded project "Songs of the Caves: acoustics and prehistoric art in Cantabrian caves", and part of a UK-Spanish team that undertook acoustical measurements at five Upper Palaeolithic painted caves in July 2013. Analysis to determine whether acoustical properties played a role in the placement of the art has been published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America in 2017.
Chris was founder-convenor of the European Megalithic Studies Group which has held four meetings since 2004, including in Rennes (May 2012). He was appointed a member of the NERC Radiocarbon Facility Steering Committee from 2011 to 2015. He also served on the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration from 2011 to 2018. In December 2017 he received a Distinguished Service Award from the Shanghai Archaeology Forum for his editorship of Antiquity, and in April 2018 an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Rennes 1. He delivered a keynote address at the Shanghai Archaeology Forum in December 2019.
Chris has supervised a number of successful PhDs on the Neolithic of Britain and western Europe.
Research interests
- Neolithic of Atlantic Europe
- Prehistoric monuments
- Development of world prehistory
- Island societies in Atlantic Europe
Research groups
- Landscapes of Complex Society
- Prehistoric Worlds
Research Projects
- eSCOPES project. Evolving spaces: coastal landscapes of the Neolithic in the European Land’s Ends
- Island of the dead? The buried Neolithic landscape of Herm (Channel Islands)
- The ‘Invisible Dead’ and the Development of Early Human Beliefs about the Body
Related Links
Esteem Indicators
- 2018: Honorary Doctorate: Docteur ;Honoris Causa, Université de Rennes I (April 2018)
- 2017: Distinguished Service Award: Distinguished Service Award, Shanghai Archaeology Forum (December 2017)
- 2013: Editor of Antiquity: Editor of Antiquity, leading journal of world archaeology (2013-2017)
- 2011: Advisory Board Member, National Geographic: Advisory Board member on new National Geographic Global Exploration Fund for Northern Europe (from 2011 to present, and continuing)
- 2011: Steering Committee NRCF: Member of the Steering Committee of the National Radiocarbon Facility (from 2011-2015)
- 2009: : Fellow of AHRC Peer-Review College
- 2008: : Member of Irish Government Expert Advisory Committee on Archaeological Policy and Practice
- 2007: : Trustee, Council for British Archaeology
- 2006: : Invited lecturer at Collège de France (February-March)
- 2006: Felix Neubergh Prize: Felix Neubergh Prize and Lecture, University of Göteborg, September 2006
- 2005: : Editor, Cambridge Archaeological Journal (1991-2005)
- 2004: : Member of the Comité Scientifique du Congrès du Centenaire of the Société Préhistorique Française 2004
- 2003: : Annual Taft Lecture, University of Cincinnati (April 2003)
Media Contacts
Available for media contact about:
- History & Archaeology: Early farming societies of Britain and France
- European Prehistory: Early farming societies of Britain and France
- History & Archaeology: Megalithic tombs and stone circles
- European Prehistory: Megalithic tombs and stone circles
- History & Archaeology: Archaeology of France
- European Prehistory: Archaeology of France
Publications
Authored book
- Scarre, C, Fagan, B.M. & Golden, C. (2021). Ancient Civilizations 5th edition. Routledge.
- Scarre, Chris & Fagan, Brian (2016). Ancient Civilizations. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
- Scarre, Chris (2011). Landscapes of Neolithic Brittany. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Scarre, Chris & Fagan, Brian (2008). Ancient Civilizations. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
- Scarre, Chris (2007). The Megalithic Monuments of Britain and Ireland. London and New York: Thames & Hudson.
- Scarre, Chris (2005). Les Monuments Mégalithiques de la Grande Bretagne et d'Irlande. Paris: Errance.
- Scarre, Chris & Fagan, Brian M. (2002). Ancient Civilizations. New York: Prentice Hall.
- Mohen, Jean-Pierre & Scarre, Chris (2002). Les Tumulus de Bougon. Complexe mégalithique du Ve au IIIe millénaire. Paris: Errance.
Chapter in book
- Scarre, Chris (Published). Geology, landscape and meaning in the megalithic monuments of western and northern Europe. In Megaliths and Geology. Boaventura, Rui, Mataloto, Rui & Pereira, Andre Archaeopress. 135-149.
- Scarre, Chris (Published). Figuritas en la Europa atlántica. In Ídolos: Miradas millenarias. Bueno Ramírez, P. & Soler Díaz, J.A. Museo Arqueológico Regional de Alicante. 167-176.
- Laporte, Luc, Cousseau, Florian, Scarre, Chris & Soler, Ludovic (2021). Vingt ans de fouilles sur le tumulus C de Péré à Prissé-la-Charrière bilan, état des recherches et perspectives. In Mégalithismes et monumentalismes funéraires passé, présent, futur. Mens, Emmanuel Leiden, The Netherlands: Sidestone Press. 29 - 48.
- Almeida, Nelson J., Oosterbeek, Luiz, Scarre, Chris, Ferreira, Cristiana, Belo, João & Costa, Luis (2018). Dawn of the dead: funerary behaviour in the Middle Tagus Neolithic. In De Gibraltar aos Pirenéus: megalitismo, vida e morte na fachada atlântica peninsular. Senna-Martinez, João Carlos, Diniz, Mariana & Carvalho, António Faustino Fundação Lapa do Lobo. 133-145.
- Scarre, Chris (2018). Mounds and monumentality in Neolithic Europe. In Constructing Monuments, Perceiving Monumentality and the Economics of Building: theoretical and methodological approaches to the built environment. Brysbaert, A., Klinkenberg, V., Gutierrez-García-M, A. & Vikatou, I. Sidestone Press. 49-64.
- Scarre, Chris (2018). Burial mounds in broader perspective – visibility, ritual and power. In Burial Mounds in Europe and Japan. Comparative and Contextual Perspectives. Knopf, Thomas, Steinhaus, Werner & Fukunaga, Shin'ya Archaeopress. 205-215.
- Scarre, Chris (2018). Introduction: the study of the human past. In The Human Past: A Textbook of World Prehistory. Scarre, Chris London and New York: Thames & Hudson. 24-43.
- Scarre, Chris (2018). Songs of the shamans? Acoustical studies in European prehistory. In Lands of the Shamans: archaeology, landscape and cosmology. Gheorghiu, Dragoş, Bender, Herman, Nash, George & Pasztor, Emilia Oxbow Books.
- Jay, Mandy & Scarre, Chris (2017). Tracking the dead in the Neolithic: the ‘Invisible Dead’ in Britain. In Engaging with the dead: exploring changing human beliefs about death, mortality and the human body. Bradbury, Jennie & Scarre, Chris Oxford: Oxbow Books. 13: 7-23.
- Scarre, Chris (2017). Neolithic Figurines of Western Europe. In The Oxford handbook of prehistoric figurines. Insoll, Tim Oxford: Oxford University Press. 877-900.
- Bradbury, Jennie & •Scarre, Chris (2017). Introduction: Engaging with the dead. In Engaging with the Dead: exploring changing human beliefs about death, mortality and the human body. Bradbury, Jennie & •Scarre, Chris Oxbow Books. 1-6.
- Scarre, Chris & Laporte, Luc (2017). Pierre, terre et bois dans les constructions néolithiques de l’Ouest de la France et de la Grande Bretagne et Irlande. In Statut des objets, des lieux et des Hommes au Néolithique. Forré, Phillippe, Marchand, Grégor & Fromont, Nicolas Chauvigny: Association de Publications Chauvinoises.
- Scarre, Chris (2016). The Last Continent: prehistoric America in comparative perspective. In HEADS 5. Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in the Americas. Sanz, Nuria Paris: UNESCO. II: 68-79.
- Scarre, Chris (2016). Dolmens without mounds in Britain, France and Ireland. In Dolmens in Denmark. Architecture and Function. Eriksen, Palle & Andersen, Niels H. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. 95: 217-233.
- Scarre, Chris & Dehn, Torben (2015). A northern point of view. In The Megalithic Architectures of Europe. Laporte, Luc & Scarre, Chris Oxbow Books. 235-240.
- Scarre, Chris (2015). Parallel Lives? Neolithic funerary monuments and the Channel divide. In Continental connections: exploring cross-channel relationships from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Iron Age. Anderson-Whymark, Hugo, Garrow, Duncan & Sturt, Fraser Oxford: Oxbow Books. 78-98.
- Scarre, Chris (2015). Accident or design? Chambers, cairns and funerary practices in Neolithic western Europe. In The Megalithic Architectures of Europe. Laporte, Luc & Scarre, Chris Oxford: Oxbow Books. 69-78.
- Scarre, Chris (2015). Les pierres dressées en Grande-Bretagne: chronologie, symbolisme et traditions préhistoriques. In Statues-menhirs et pierres levées du Néolithique à aujourd'hui. Actes du 3e colloque interantional sur la statuaire mégalithique, Saint-Pons-de-Thomières, du 12 au 16 septembres 2012. Rodriguez, Gabriel & Marchesi, Henri Montpellier: Direction régionale des affaires culturelles Languedoc-Roussillon/Groupe Archéologique du Saint-Ponais. 141-151.
- Cummings, Vicki, Midgley, Magdalena & Scarre, Chris (2014). Chambered Tombs and Passage Graves of Western and Northern Europe. In The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe. Fowler, Chris, Harding, Jan & Hofmann, Daniela Oxford University Press. 813-838.
- Fowler, Chris & Scarre, Chris (2014). Mortuary Practices and Bodily Representations in North-West Europe. In The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe. Fowler, Chris, Harding, Jan & Hofmann, Daniela Oxford University Press. 1023-1048.
- Scarre, Chris (2014). Dyssen uden høje i Storbritannien, Frankrig og Irland. In Stendysser. Arkitektur og funktion. Eriksen, Palle & Andersen, Niels H. Jysk Arkaeologisk Selskab. 217-235.
- Scarre, Chris (2013). Pierres et paysages: blocs naturels et éléments mégalithiques dans les monuments mégalithiques britanniques. In Les Premières Architectures en Pierre en Europe Occidentale du Ve au IIe millénaire avant J.-C. actes du colloque international de Nantes, Musée Thomas Dobrée, 2-4 octobre 2008. Guyodo, Jean-Nöel & Mens, Emmanuel Rennes, France: Presses Universitaires de Rennes. 181-191.
- Scarre, Chris (2013). Covering the dead: the cists behind the orthostats at the Mound of the Hostages. In Tara – from the past to the future. Towards a new research agenda. O'Sullivan, Muiris, Scarre, Chris & Doyle, Maureen Dublin: Wordwell. 159-169.
- Sévin-Allouet, Christophe & Scarre, Chris (2013). Les sépultures collectives de Grande-Bretagne: temporalité et mémoire sociale. In Transitions, Ruptures et Continuité en Préhistoire. Vol 1: Evolution des techniques, comportements funéraires, Néolithique ancien. Actes du 27è congrès SPF, Bordeaux-Les Eyzies, mai-juin 2010. Jaubert, Jacques, Fourment, Nathalie & Depaepe, Pascal Société Préhistorique Française. 229-242.
- Scarre, Chris (2012). Significant stones, significant places: monumentality and landscape in Neolithic Western Europe. In The Construction of Value in the Ancient World. Papadopoulos, John & Urton, Gary Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. 5: 51-65.
- Scarre, Chris (2012). Social Stratification and the State in Prehistoric Europe: The Wider Perspective. In The Prehistory of Iberia: Debating Early Social Stratification and the State. Cruz Berrocal, María García Sanjuán, Leonardo & Gilman, Antonio Routledge. 381-406.
- Scarre, Chris, García Sanjuán, Leonardo & Wheatley, David (2011). Exploring Time and Matter in Prehistoric Monuments: debating absolute chronology and rare rocks in European megaliths. In Exploring Time and Matter in Prehistoric Monuments: debating absolute chronology and rare rocks in European megaliths. Scarre, Chris, García Sanjuán, Leonardo & Wheatley, David Junta de Andalucía. 11-23.
- Scarre, Chris, Oosterbeek, Luiz & French, Charles (2011). Tombs, landscapes and settlement in the Tagus hill-country. In From the Origins: The Prehistory of the Inner Tagus Region. Bueno Ramírez, P., Cerrillo Cuenca, E. & Gonzalez Cordero, A. Oxford: Archaeopress. 2219: 83-91.
- Scarre, Chris (2011). Stone people: monuments and identities in the Channel Islands. In Megaliths and Identities: Early Monuments and Neolithic Societies from the Atlantic to the Baltic. Furholt, Martin, Lüth, Friedrich & Müller, Johannes Bonn: Dr Rudolf Habelt. 1: 95-104.
- Scarre, Chris (2011). Marking time: the problem of chronology in studying European Neolithic monuments. In Exploring Time and Matter in Prehistoric Monuments: debating absolute chronology and rare rocks in European megaliths. Scarre, Chris, García Sanjuán, Leonardo & Wheatley, David Junta de Andalucía. 53-74.
- Scarre, Chris (2011). Monumentality. In Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion. Insoll, Timothy Oxford University Press. 9-23.
- Scarre, Chris & Oosterbeek, Luiz (2010). The megalithic tombs of the middle Tagus basin and agro-pastoral origins in Western Iberia. In Beiträge zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte der Iberischen Halbinsel und Mitteleuropas. Studien in honorem Philine Kalb. Armbruester, Tanya & Hegewisch, Morten Habelt. 97-110.
- Scarre, Chris (2010). Megaliths, memory and the power of stones. In Monumental Questions: Prehistoric Megaliths, Mounds, and Enclosures. Calado, David, Baldia, Maximilian & Boulanger, Matthew Oxford: Archaeopress. 91-96.
- Scarre, Chris (2009). Stony ground: outcrops, rocks and quarries in the creation of megalithic monuments. In Megalithic Quarrying: Sourcing, extracting and manipulating the stones. Scarre, Chris Oxford: Archaeopress. 3-20.
- Scarre, Chris (2009). Stones with character: animism, agency and megalithic monuments. In Materialitas: working stone, carving identity. O'Connor, Blaze, Cooney, Gabriel & Chapman, John Oxford: Oxbow Books. 9-18.
- Scarre, Chris (2008). Shrines of the land and places of power: religion and the transition to farming in western Europe. In Belief in the Past. Theoretical approaches to the archaeology of religion. Whitley, David S. & Hays-Gilpin, Kelley Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. 209-226.
- Renfrew, Colin, Scarre, Chris, Whitelaw, Todd & Brodie, Neil (2007). The excavated areas. In Excavations at Phylakopi in Melos 1974-77. Renfrew, Colin London: British School at Athens. 19-90.
- Scarre, Chris (2007). Other finds of stone, B: stone and shell pestles. In Keros, Dhaskalio Kavos: the investigations of 1987-88. Renfrew, Colin, Doumas, Christos, Marangou, Lila & Gavalas, Giorgos Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. 360-363.
- Scarre, Chris (2007). Changing places: monuments and the Neolithic transition in western France. In Going Over: The Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition in North-West Europe. Cummings, Vicki & Whittle, Alasdair London: The British Academy. 243-261.
- Scarre, Chris (2007). Monuments and miniatures: representing humans in Neolithic Europe 5000-2000 BC. In Material Beginnings: a global prehistory of figurative representation. Renfrew, Colin & Morley, Iain Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. 25-37.
- Scarre, Chris (2007). Appendix A. Quantitative analysis of finds from the trenches. In Keros, Dhaskalio Kavos: the investigations of 1987-88. Renfrew, Colin, Doumas, Christos, Marangou, Lila & Gavalas, Giorgog Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. 105-111.
- Scarre, Chris (2006). Sound, place and space: towards an archaeology of acoustics. In Archaeoacoustics. Scarre, Chris & Lawson, Graeme Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. 1-10.
- Scarre, Chris (2006). Stone vessels and implements. In Markiani, Amorgos. An Early Bronze Age fortified settlement. Overview of the 1985-1991 investigations. Marangou, Lila, Renfrew, Colin, Doumas, Christos & Gavalas, Giorgos London and New York: British School at Athens. 174-191.
- Scarre, Chris (2006). Megalithic and non-megalithic burial mounds of southern Britain. In Origin and Development of the Megalithic Monuments of Western Europe. Laporte, Luc, Joussaume, Roger & Scarre, Chris Bougon: Musée des Tumulus de Bougon. 187-215.
- Scarre, Chris (2005). The human past: retrospect and prospect. In The Human Past: A Textbook of World Prehistory. Scarre, Chris London and New York: Thames & Hudson. 716-720.
- Scarre, Chris (2005). The world transformed: from foragers and farmers to states and empires. In The Human Past: A Textbook of World Prehistory. Scarre, Chris London and New York: Thames & Hudson. 176-199.
- Scarre, Chris (2005). Holocene Europe. In The Human Past: A Textbook of World Prehistory. Scarre, Chris London and New York: Thames & Hudson. 392-431.
- Scarre, Chris (2004). Choosing stones, remembering places: geology and intention in the megalithic monuments of western Europe. In Soils, Stones and Symbols. Cultural perceptions of the mineral world. Boivin, Nicole & Owoc, Mary-Ann London: UCL Press. 187-202.
- Scarre, Chris (2004). Displaying the stones: the materiality of 'megalithic' monuments. In Rethinking Materiality: the engagement of mind with the material world. DeMarrais, E., Gosden, C. & Renfrew, C. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. 141-152.
- Scarre, Chris (2003). Diverse inspirations: landscapes, longhouses and the Neolithic monument forms of northern France. In Stones and Bones. Formal disposal of the dead in Atlantic Europe during the Mesolithic-Neolithic interface 6000-3000 BC. Burenhult, Göran Oxford: Archaeopress. 39-52.
- Soler, Ludovic, Joussaume, Roger, Laporte, Luc & Scarre, Chris (2003). Le tumulus néolithique C de Péré à Prissé-la-Charrière (Deux-Sèvres): le niveau funéraire de la chambre mégalithique 1 (phase II du monument). In Les pratiques funéraires néolithiques avant 3500 av. J.-C. en France et dans les régions limitrophes. Chambon, Philippe & Leclerc, Jean Paris: Société Préhistorique Française. 247-258.
- Arias, Pablo, Burenhult, Göran, Fano, Miguel A., Oosterbeek, Luiz, Scarre, Chris, Schulting, Rick, Sheridan, Alison & Whittle, Alasdair (2003). Megalithic chronologies. In Stones and Bones. Formal disposal of the dead in Atlantic Europe during the Mesolithic-Neolithic interface 6000-3000 BC. Burenhult, Göran Oxford: Archaeopress. 65-111.
- Scarre, Chris (2003). Pioneer farmers? The Neolithic transition in western Europe. In Examining the Language/Farming Dispersal Hypothesis. Bellwood, Peter & Renfrew, Colin Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. 395-407.
- Scarre, Chris (2002). Situating monuments: the dialogue between built form and landform in Atlantic Europe. In Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe. Scarre, Chris London: Routledge. 1-14.
- Scarre, Chris (2002). A place of special meaning: interpreting prehistoric monuments through landscape. In Inscribed Landscapes: marking and making place. David, Bruno & Wilson, Meredith Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 154-175.
- Scarre, Chris (2002). Epilogue: Colour and materiality in prehistoric society. In Colouring the Past. Jones, Andrew & Macgregor, Gavin Oxford: Berg. 227-242.
- Scarre, Chris (2002). Coast and cosmos: the Neolithic monuments of northern Brittany. In Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe. Scarre, Chris London: Routledge. 84-102.
- Scarre, Chris (2001). Pilgrimage and place in Neolithic western Europe. In Holy Ground: theoretical issues relating to the landscape and material culture of ritual space. Smith, Alexander & Brookes, Alison Oxford: British Archaeological Reports. 9-20.
- Scarre, Chris (2001). Enclosures and related structures in Brittany and western France. In Neolithic Enclosures in Atlantic North-West Europe. Darvill, Timothy & Thomas, Julian Oxford: Oxbow Books. 24-42.
Edited book
- Scarre, Chris & Stone, Tammy (Accepted). The Human Past Essentials. Thames and Hudson.
- Scarre, Chris & Oosterbeek, Luiz (2019). Megalithic Tombs in Western Iberia. Excavations at the Anta da Lajinha. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
- Bradbury, Jennie & Scarre, Chris (2017). Engaging with the Dead: exploring changing human beliefs about death, mortality and the human body. Studies in funerary archaeology, volume 13. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
- Laporte, Luc & Scarre, Chris (2016). The Megalithic Architectures of Europe. Oxbow Books.
- Scarre, Chris (2013). The Human Past. World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies. Thames & Hudson.
- Scarre, Chris, García Sanjuán, Leonardo & Wheatley, David (2011). Exploring Time and Matter in Prehistoric Monuments: absolute chronology and rare rocks in European megaliths. Menga. Journal of Andalusian Prehistory. Junta de Andalucía - Andalusian Regional Government Ministry of Culture.
- Scarre, Chris (2009). Megalithic Quarrying: Sourcing, extracting and manipulating the stones. Oxford: Archaeopress.
- Scarre, Chris (2009). The Human Past: World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies. London: Thames & Hudson.
- Laporte, Luc, Joussaume, Roger & Scarre, Chris (2006). Origin and Development of the Megalithic Monuments of Western Europe. Bougon: Musée des Tumulus de Bougon.
- Scarre, Chris & Scarre, Geoffrey (2006). The ethics of archaeology: philosophical perspectives on archaeological practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Scarre, Chris & Lawson, Graeme (2006). Archaeoacoustics. McDonald Institute Monographs. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
- Scarre, Chris (2005). The Human Past: World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies. London: Thames & Hudson.
- Cherry, John, Scarre, Chris & Shennan, Stephen (2004). Explaining Social Change: studies in honour of Colin Renfrew. McDonald Institute Monographs. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
- Scarre, Chris (2002). Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe. London and New York: Routledge.
Journal Article
- Silva, A.M., Sousa, A.C., Boaventura, R. & Scarre, C. (Accepted). The forgotten bones of the dolmen of Pedras Grandes (Odivelas, Portugal). Examining old human remains 7. SPAL - Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueología
- Silva, Ana Maria, Sousa, Ana Catarina & Scarre, Chris (2021). A closer look at the forgotten bones of the Dolmen of Pedras Grandes (Odivelas, Portugal). Examining old human remains 7. SPAL. Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad de Sevilla 2(30): 20.
- Martínez-Sevilla, F., Lozano Rodríguez, J.A., Martínez Jordán, J.M., Scarre, C., Vargas Jiménez, J.M., Pajuelo Pando, A. & López Aldana, P. (2020). A new perspective on Copper Age technology, economy and settlement: grinding tools at the Valencina mega‑site. Journal of World Prehistory 33(4): 513-559.
- Rivollat, Maïté, Jeong, Choongwon, Schiffels, Stephan, Küçükkalıpçı, İşil, Pemonge, Marie-Hélène, Alt, Kurt W., Binder, Didier, Friederich, Susanne, Ghesquière, Emmanuel, Gronenborn, Detlef, Laporte, Luc, Lefranc, Philippe, Meller, Harald, Réveillas, Hélène, Rosenstock, Eva, Rottier, Stéphane, Scarre, Chris, Soler, Ludovic, Wahl, Joachim, Krause, Johannes, Deguilloux, Marie-France & Haak, Wolfgang (2020). Ancient genome-wide DNA from France highlights the complexity of interactions between Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers. Science Advances 6(22): eaaz5344.
- Silva, Ana Maria, Sousa, Ana Catarina, Boaventura, Rui & Scarre, Chris (2019). Los huesos olvidados del dolmen de Carrascal (Agualva, Sintra, Portugal). Examinando los restos humanos antiguos. Trabajos de Prehistoria 76(2): 345-356.
- Scarre, Chris (2018). Megalithic people, megalithic missionaries: the history of an idea. Estudos Arqueológicos de Oeiras 24: 157-170.
- Callaghan, Richard & Scarre, Chris (2017). Biscay and Beyond? Prehistoric voyaging between two Finisterres. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 36(4): 355-373.
- Fazenda, Bruno, Scarre, Chris, Till, Rupert, Jiménez Pasalodos, Raquel, Rojo Guerra, Manuel, Tejedor, Cristina, Ontañón Peredo, Roberto, Watson, Aaron, Wyatt, Simon, García Benito, Carlos, Drinkall, Helen & Foulds, Frederick (2017). Cave acoustics in prehistory: exploring the association of Palaeolithic visual motifs and acoustic response. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 142(3): 1332-1349.
- García Sanjuán, Leo, Scarre, Chris & Wheatley, David W. (2017). The Mega-Site of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain): Debating Settlement Form, Monumentality and Aggregation in Southern Iberian Copper Age Societies. Journal of World Prehistory 30(3): 239-257.
- Neil, Samantha, Evans, Jane, Montgomery, Janet & Scarre, Chris (2016). Isotopic evidence for residential mobility of farming communities during the transition to agriculture in Britain. Royal Society Open Science 3(1): 150522.
- Scarre, Chris (2016). Archaeological Investigations on Jethou. Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise 28: 88-145.
- Burbidge, C.I., Trindade, M.J., Dias, M.I., Oosterbeek, L., Scarre, C., Rosina, P., Cruz, A., Cura, S., Cura, P., Caron, L., Prudêncio, M.I., Cardoso, G.J.O., Franco, D., Marques, R. & Gomes, H. (2014). Luminescence dating and associated analyses in transition landscapes of the Alto Ribatejo, central Portugal. Quaternary Geochronology 20: 65-77.
- Bailiff, I.K., Scarre, C.J. & French, C.A. (2014). Application of luminescence dating and geomorphological analysis to the study of landscape evolution, settlement and climate change on the Channel Island of Herm. Journal of Archaeological Science 41: 890-903.
- Scarre, Chris & French, Charles (2013). The palaeogeography and Neolithic archaeology of Herm in the Channel Islands. Journal of Field Archaeology 38(1): 4-20.
- Holtby, Ian, Scarre, Chris, Bentley, R. Alexander & Rowley-Conwy, Peter (2012). Disease, CCR5-32 and the European spread of agriculture? A hypothesis. Antiquity 86(331): 207-210.
- Scarre, Chris (2011). Recherches récentes sur l'île de Herm (îles anglo-normandes). Note préliminaire. Bulletin de l'Association Manche-Atlantique pour la Recherche Archéologique dans les Îles 23: 37-46.
- Deguilloux, Marie-France, Soler, Ludovic, Pemonge, Marie-Hélène, Scarre, Chris, Joussaume, Roger & Laporte, Luc (2011). News from the West: Ancient DNA from a French megalithic burial chamber. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 144(1): 108-118.
- Scarre, Chris (2010). Rocks of ages: tempo and time in megalithic monuments. European Journal of Archaeology 13(2): 175-193.
- Callaghan, Richard & Scarre, Chris (2009). Simulating the Western Seaways. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 28(4): 357-372.
- Scarre, Chris (2008). Nuevos enfoques para el estudio de los monumentos megalíticos de Europe Occidental. Boletín del Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico 67(Especial Monográfico): 12-23.
- Scarre, Chris (2008). "Beings like themselves"? Anthropomorphic representations in the megalithic tombs of France. ARKEOS 24: 73-96.
- Scarre, Chris (2006). Consolidation, reconstruction and the interpretation of megalithic monuments. Arkeos 16: 13-44.
- Scarre, Chris & Roberts, J. (2005). The English cemetery at Surat: pre-colonial cultural encounters in western India. Antiquaries Journal 85: 250-291.
- Scarre, Chris, Laporte, Luc & Joussaume, Roger (2003). Long mounds and megalithic origins in western France: recent excavations at Prissé-la-Charrière. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 69: 235-251.
- Scarre, Chris (2002). Jacques Cauvin and the origins of agriculture. Antiquity 76: 293-295.
- Scarre, Chris (2002). A pattern of islands: the Neolithic monuments of north-west Brittany. European Journal of Archaeology 5(1): 24-41.
- Laporte, Luc, Joussaume, Roger & Scarre, Chris (2002). Le tumulus C de Péré à Prissé-la-Charrière (Deux-vres). Etat de recherches après 6 années d'intervention. Gallia Préhistoire 44: 167-214.
- Scarre, Chris (2002). Contexts of monumentalism: regional diversity at the Neolithic transition in north-west France. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 21(1): 23-61.
- Scarre, Chris (2001). Modelling prehistoric populations: the case of Neolithic Brittany. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 20(3): 285-313.
Newspaper/Magazine Article
- Scarre, Chris (2011). The living stones of Brittany. British Archaeology 121: 36-41.