Dr David Saunders

A prehistorian, author and experienced tour lecturer, David’s particular expertise lies in Palaeolithic cave art. His interests extend across all periods of prehistory, with a special focus on prehistoric animal movement and the different styles, subjects and symbols found in ancient art.

David read archaeology at the University of Buckingham, where he completed a doctorate investigating the relationship between the movement of prehistoric cattle and the location and alignment of Neolithic cursus monuments. His research offered a new perspective on these mysterious earthworks, considering the practical importance of animals and landscape before the monuments acquired their later ceremonial significance.

Alongside his academic research, David has spent many years taking part in significant archaeological excavations. These include six years at the Mesolithic site at Blick Mead within the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, and long involvement with the University of Reading’s annual field school at excavations including Marden Henge — the largest Neolithic henge site in the UK — Cat’s Brain, the first Neolithic long barrow to be excavated for over seventy years, and the bath house at the Roman town of Silchester.

David is the author of The Cursus Enigma: Prehistoric Cattle and Cursus Alignments (Peter Lang, 2021). His interest in animal movement extends to the animals and signs depicted in Palaeolithic cave art, where he regularly acts as an expert guide on tours to the Dordogne region of France and the Cantabrian region of northern Spain.

For Travel Editions, David combines detailed research with genuine enthusiasm, helping travellers look beyond the surviving stones, carvings and paintings to consider the people who created them and the landscapes in which they lived. Guests regularly praise both his considerable knowledge and his ability to bring this distant past vividly to life.