Talk
A persistent place: a new chronology for Neolithic Dorchester
FULLY BOOKED
The area underneath and around the town of Dorchester was an important place for Neolithic people, who built a variety of monuments here over a period of 2000 years. From the early Neolithic causewayed enclosure at Maiden Castle and middle Neolithic sites like the Alington Avenue long barrow and the 100m enclosure known as Flagstones to late Neolithic constructions like Mount Pleasant ‘mega-henge’ and Greyhound Yard’s 380m-wide palisaded enclosure, these sites form a rich and wide-ranging ceremonial landscape spanning hundreds of years.
Recent work as part of Susan Greaney’s PhD has obtained new radiocarbon dates for the major monuments in this complex, enabling a new and detailed chronology for the area to be constructed. This talk will present these results, and discuss their implications for how we understand changes in beliefs, burials and gatherings during the Neolithic period, including how these people may have viewed older monuments. It will also present insights that this new chronology provides into fundamental questions about what happened at the start of the Bronze Age.
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Dorset Museum & Art Gallery
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What's On
2 December 2023 - 21 April 2024
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Find out more2 December 2023 - 21 April 2024
Awakened by Frink
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Find out more4 April 2024, 10:00am - 12:00noon
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Find out more11 April 2024, 10:00am - 12:00noon
Easter Family Activity
Learn about birds in springtime and their different eggs and nests whilst building your own bird’s nest using recycled materials and making clay eggs to go inside to take home.
Find out more14 April 2024, 11:00am - 3:00pm
Wedding Fair
Dorset Museum is excited to announce our third Wedding Fair, working alongside a variety of local suppliers to help couples plan their forthcoming nuptials.
Find out more17 April 2024, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Collections Discovery Centre Tour
Join our Collections Team for an opportunity to explore behind the scenes in the Museum’s Collections Discovery Centre.
Find out more18 April 2024, 10:00am- 10:30am
Storytime at the Museum
Come and join us for fun-filled Storytime where you can listen to some amazing tales in our Community Space at the Museum.
Find out more18 April 2024, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Traditions and Transitions: The Story of the Chettle Grave Group | Sophia Adams
A locally made wine strainer, an old mirror and a blue glass jar perhaps from Cologne. These are just three of the eight artefacts found in 2003, buried together on land within Chettle Park, Dorset.
Find out more