On the 5th March a very small but enthusiastic group of us met at the British Museum to go to the ‘The World of Stonehenge’ exhibition.
The blurb says:
In this special exhibition, the British Museum will reveal the secrets of Stonehenge, shining a light on its purpose, cultural power and the people that created it.
Following the story of Britain and Europe from 4000 to 1000 BC, you’ll learn about the restless and highly connected age of Stonehenge – a period of immense transformation and radical ideas that changed society forever.
The exhibition does feature some interesting short videos showing the construction of Stonehenge at various stages in time but the main thrust of the exhibition looks at the wider context – the development of possible belief systems and societal structures around these large building projects and their eventual dissolution as new patterns of thought, belief and ritual emerge. If you are going to the exhibition just to find out about Stonehenge you might be slightly disappointed but this would be a pity due to the remarkable collection of objects they have managed to get together – a wall of hand axes from every generation across this time, a wooden walkway, items from multiple burials, an actual part of Seahenge, extraordinary carved objects and skilled metalwork, the Nebra Sky Disc – the world’s oldest surviving map of the stars, etc etc etc – there are many treasures and the exhibition is a large one that takes a couple of hours to look through. It is enormously fascinating and rewarding. The sense of viewing a long period of history through so many unique and wonderful objects like this is quite incredible.
After the exhibition, over hot drinks and food in the cafe, we discussed the exhibition and the many ideas and concepts it had thrown up for us. A couple of us felt that there wasn’t quite enough about the actual construction of Stonehenge and surrounding area. We discussed possible developments of Neolithic society and beliefs and wondered how this related to our current preoccupations and how the changes of belief then connected with how other historical systems of belief have developed. Sharing our thoughts and chewing over ideas together afterwards is always a very enjoyable and rewarding part of our exhibition trips together.
Later, I also reflected that there was very little – except a rather strange add on of a few Blake drawings at the end – of the ‘after life’ of Stonehenge – what it might have meant to the Romans or medieval people; the myth making that arose over time; the rise of interest in antiquities during the eighteenth century and the (ongoing) development of more professional and technological advanced archeology; the growth of modern pagan movements and their interest in the site. As this didn’t fit the aims of the exhibition (which was focused on the wider context at the time of building the site only) it didn’t seem to be considered. Perhaps logistically this would have resulted in a much too large exhibition but I felt it a shame it wasn’t really mentioned at all.
If you didn’t join us, please do consider going to get a glimpse of a long period in the human story, with huge changes in belief and ritual reflected in the building of this remarkable monument. The exhibition runs until 17 July so book your tickets soon!
Review by Sam Becker
