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Join us for our final Winter Lecture of the season as we discover new understandings of the Neolithic monument of Avebury with Professors Mark Gillings and Joshua Pollard.
This is a lecture about the Neolithic monument of Avebury and the exciting new interpretations that are emerging from new campaigns of fieldwork and archive investigation. One of the pre-eminent monumental landscapes of Europe, Avebury has been vexing researchers since its discovery as an object of antiquarian enquiry in the mid 17th century. However, despite nearly 400 years of study, what we don’t know about Avebury still dwarfs what we do. In an attempt to rectify this, the last decade has seen a burst of new studies at the site; investigations that are not only challenging and unsettling accepted stories, but also shedding remarkable new light on the emergence and history of this monumental landscape.
In the course of the lecture we will encounter restless and feckless stones, square circles, time machines and serpentine Avenues. We will look at the surprising origins of the monument as well as its ultimate fate, how you can persuade a megalith to whisper its own story, and what treasures lurk in the unpublished archives of 1930s excavations. Whilst I can offer no money-back guarantee, my hope is that by the end of the evening you will never think about Avebury in quite the same way again.
Speakers
Professor Mark Gillings is a landscape archaeologist based in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology of the University of Bristol. He fell in love with Avebury as a child after watching Children of the Stones (from behind the sofa, naturally) and has been carrying out fieldwork at the site with his friend Josh Pollard (University of Southampton) for nigh on 30 years.
Joshua Pollard is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Southampton (although a Bristol resident). His research interests have primarily focussed on the Neolithic and have involved fieldwork in the Avebury and Stonehenge landscapes, among other places.
How to take part
Thanks to the generous sponsorship from the Friends of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives , this season’s Winter Lectures will be held in person at M Shed and online via Zoom.
If you are attending in-person, please arrive 15 minutes before the advertised start time to take your seat. Parking in the area can be difficult so you may want to allow extra time to find a space if you are driving to the venue.
If you are attending online, this lecture will take place over Zoom. Details of how to join the session will be in your registration email.
