HiRiginslinger... yes, it amazing how the ancient artifacts are regarded as just part of the natural world. Hardy is a very nostalic writer I think, as many of his novels are placed in the generation or so before Hardy. I think he longed for the rural life of the past in the same way that many of us still do..in a romantic sort of way, don't you think ? I find his fondness for nature and his obvious depth of knowledge amazing To read Reurn of The Native is to spend a few emchanted hours in the "wilds" of Dorset....Now I am goibf to re read Far From The Madding Crowd.