Focusing in on the use of theme of how power, prestige and status were manifested in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages, it looks primarily at "the ideology of domination", in doing so adopting a quasi-Marxist approach.

The book proceeds from a discussion of how hierarchical symbols are found in society to looking at the role of ancestor veneration in Early Neolithic Britain through the construction of chambered tombs.

Moving on, it looks at the arrival of Beaker pottery and metallurgy in the British Isles, arguing that this brought with it a new social elite who became dominant during the ensuing Early Bronze Age.

The second chapter, entitled 'The Use of the Ancestors', discusses the Early Neolithic in Britain, as farming arrived to supplant the hunter-gatherer lifestyle that had previously dominated British society.

It then goes on to look at the great reverence held for ancestors in Early Neolithic society, with the construction of chambered tombs for the dead, in doing so discussing examples such as West Kennet Long Barrow in Wiltshire and Maeshowe in Orkney.