Concepts of cosmos in the world of Stonehenge

Join archaeologists for a discussion about how people 4,500–3,000 years ago thought of the cosmos, their place in it and why this mattered to them.

Chaired by Dr Jill Cook (British Museum), this discussion explores some of the potential meanings encapsulated in the monuments and objects of the world of Stonehenge. Cook will be joined by Prof Timothy Darvill, who'll focus on how late Neolithic people embedded a calendar into the sarsen structures at Stonehenge. He'll explore where the idea of such a calendar might have come from, how it might have worked and why one might have been needed.

They'll also be joined by Prof Dr Harald Meller (Director of the State Museum of Prehistory, at Halle, Germany) to discuss the importance of the Nebra Sky Disc to our understanding of the imagination and concepts of those living some 3,600 years ago. The scientific findings about the Nebra Sky Disc make it a key find in European prehistory, astronomy and early religious history. Recent research on the object itself and on the early Bronze Age in central Germany point to a far-reaching trade and communication network and provide exciting insights into the social structure of early Bronze Age society in Central Germany.

This event is part of the public programme accompanying The world of Stonehenge at the British Museum (17 February – 17 July 2022).

More information about the exhibition can be found here: https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibit...

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Please note there are images of human remains during the first presentation at approximately 16:46-17:05 minutes in.

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Image credit: Nebra Sky Disc, Germany, about 1600 BC. Photo courtesy of the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt, Juraj Lipták. Nebra Sky Disc, Germany, about 1600 BC. Photo courtesy of the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt, Juraj Lipták.