TWO county archaeologists mounted a cross-border raid - and came back with 'booty' for their latest book.

Stone, Bronze and Iron were what George Children and Dr George Nash went looking for, finding evidence of each Age at the prehistoric sites of Breconshire that this latest work outlines. It's the fourth in a series so far spanning Herefordshire, Monmouthshire and The Gower/West Glamorgan; guides to encourage journeys of the mind as much as any physical sense of space and time.

The two long-term collaborators have won over a wide and diverse readership with an approach that blends the archaeological with the anthropological. It's even earned them a starring spot at Hay festival. Taken together, their books explore landscape as both the sum of human interaction and as part of the psyche - identifying those 'touchstones' that assist in interpreting how our ancestors lived.

This new addition, then, outlines how hunter/gatherers spread up the river valleys of prehistoric Breconshire, establishing temporary encampments before their descendants decided to settle and start to farm the lowland areas.

Research reveals much of this early settlement as occurring in the shadows of the Black Mountains, a unifying feature providing a sense of shared 'territory' between tribes and families. With the advent of the use of Bronze, and improvements in climate, early man spread out across what are Breconshire's current boundaries - moving up the hillsides to live, farm and be buried. But he came back down again during the Iron Age when a deterioration of that conducive climate saw the highest ground vacated in favour of activity along the river valleys, notably that of the Usk and its tributaries.

It's a tale the two George's tell with frequent reference to the lifestyle, beliefs and customs of their subjects.

'Prehistoric Sites of Breconshire' includes around 100 photographs, maps, plans and drawings. Published by county-based Logaston Press it's available in paperback for £7.95.

BILL TANNER