Penn Museum Event: Stonehenge: Dec 7, 2011
Last night I attended this month's Penn Museum lecture: Merlin's Magic Circles: Stonehenge and the use of the Preseli Bluestones, from special guest speaker Timothy Darvill of Bournemouth University in the UK. Here's the description of the lecture:
Stonehenge in central southern England is known the world over as an iconic symbol of Europe’s prehistoric past. In this lecture Professor Timothy Darvill of Bournemouth University, UK, will show that while Stonehenge’s origins as a ceremonial monument were conventional enough its later history was exceptional. Key to the transformation was the arrival of about 80 pillars of Bluestone rock brought a distance of around 250km from the Preseli Hills of southwest Wales to Salisbury Plain. But why were these stones important? And what did they mean to Neolithic people? Using archaeological evidence from Stonehenge itself and from recent work in the Preseli Hills, and folklore and oral tradition dating back to the 13th century AD, a new picture of Stonehenge is emerging in which the stones themselves can be seen to have perceived magical properties connected with healing. Their re-use in later and ever more elaborate structures at Stonehenge show something of their power and significance and illustrate how the landscape of the Preseli Hills is constructed in microcosm at Stonehenge. People were attracted to the area from continental Europe, and what started out as a local focus became a celebrated place for prehistoric pilgrimage.
This lecture was well-organized and interesting, though it did run a little long. Professor Darvill spent just a little too much time on the geology of the bluestones and lost us a little bit. They're all rocks from this one area but not the same kind of rock, got it, 'nuff said. Professor Darvill was obviously knowledgeable and passionate about his subject. He wasn't over-the-top funny, but there were a few little moments of humor. The lecture was organized in such a way that Professor Darvill was telling one coherent and cohesive story, and I really appreciated that. I think the neatest part is that he's the first guy to be allowed to excavate at Stonehenge since the 1960s, and I got to hear him speak. Overall, I was really happy with the lecture and glad we attended.
Stonehenge in central southern England is known the world over as an iconic symbol of Europe’s prehistoric past. In this lecture Professor Timothy Darvill of Bournemouth University, UK, will show that while Stonehenge’s origins as a ceremonial monument were conventional enough its later history was exceptional. Key to the transformation was the arrival of about 80 pillars of Bluestone rock brought a distance of around 250km from the Preseli Hills of southwest Wales to Salisbury Plain. But why were these stones important? And what did they mean to Neolithic people? Using archaeological evidence from Stonehenge itself and from recent work in the Preseli Hills, and folklore and oral tradition dating back to the 13th century AD, a new picture of Stonehenge is emerging in which the stones themselves can be seen to have perceived magical properties connected with healing. Their re-use in later and ever more elaborate structures at Stonehenge show something of their power and significance and illustrate how the landscape of the Preseli Hills is constructed in microcosm at Stonehenge. People were attracted to the area from continental Europe, and what started out as a local focus became a celebrated place for prehistoric pilgrimage.
This lecture was well-organized and interesting, though it did run a little long. Professor Darvill spent just a little too much time on the geology of the bluestones and lost us a little bit. They're all rocks from this one area but not the same kind of rock, got it, 'nuff said. Professor Darvill was obviously knowledgeable and passionate about his subject. He wasn't over-the-top funny, but there were a few little moments of humor. The lecture was organized in such a way that Professor Darvill was telling one coherent and cohesive story, and I really appreciated that. I think the neatest part is that he's the first guy to be allowed to excavate at Stonehenge since the 1960s, and I got to hear him speak. Overall, I was really happy with the lecture and glad we attended.