 Chapter one , " Ritual and the archaeologist " , begins by describing the ritual deposits from the pre @-@ Roman Iron Age sites of <unk> Castle and <unk> , <unk> in southern Britain . Merrifield laments the fact that the majority of archaeologists , particularly those studying literate , historical periods , have avoided ritual explanations for unusual phenomenon in the archaeological record ; he believes that they exhibit a " ritual phobia " . He contrasts this view with that of those archaeologists studying the Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain , who have widely accepted the ritual uses of chambered tombs and stone circles . He specifies particular definitions for words such as " ritual " , " religion " and " superstition " , arguing that such terms must be used with precision by archaeologists . <unk> a case study , he describes how Neolithic stone axes were adopted as <unk> or <unk> in the later Roman Iron Age onward in Britain , and that as such archaeologists should expect to find them in non @-@ prehistoric contexts . 
