Ancient sculpture is ‘most important prehistoric art find in UK for a century’
5,000-year-old chalk drum decorated with motifs was discovered in Burton Agnes in East Yorkshire alongside burial of three children
A 5,000-year-old chalk sculpture discovered in east Yorkshire, due to be displayed at the British Museum, has been described as the most important piece of prehistoric art to be found in Britain in the last century.
The object, a Burton Agnes drum, is a chalk sculpture which had been decorated with motifs similar to the artistic style at the same time as Stonehenge was built. The drum was discovered alongside the burial of three children.
The drum is hailed to be such an important discovery due to its similarity to a group of objects already in the British Museum’s collection.
The Folkton drums, three barrel-shaped cylinders made of chalk, were found in North Yorkshire buried alongside the remains of a child, and have been part of the British Museum’s collection since 1889. They are, according to the British Museum, some of the “most famous and enigmatic ancient objects ever unearthed in Britain”.
Relatively little is known about the Folkton drums and their context but this new drum, which was found about 15 miles away, sheds new light on them. The exact age of the Folkton drums was never known, with a consensus guess that they were made around 2500 – 2000BC. However, due to new technology and the finding of the new drum, the Folkton drums can be identified as being nearly 500 years older than previously thought.
This new discovery, only the fourth example of its kind known to have survived, is nearly identical to the Folkton drums and can also be described as a chalk drum.
Despite the use of the term ‘drum’, they are not thought to have had a musical function. Instead, they are works of sculptural art, and have been interpreted to be intended as talismans to protect the deceased children they accompanied.
The Burton Agnes drum is due to be displayed to the public for the first time on Thursday 17th Feb, alongside all three Folkton drums, as part of the World of Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum.
The World of Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum, on display until mid-July 2022, is the UK’s first major exhibition on Stonehenge. Nearly two-thirds of the objects on display will be loaned from 35 lenders across several different countries, including Germany, Denmark and Italy.
Read more here
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/feb/10/ancient-sculpture-is-most-important-prehistoric-art-find-in-uk-for-century
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road