The world of Stonehenge: placing a famous monument in context

An immense communal effort, continental connections, and exotic materials travelling long distances for people to gather and marvel at: this could be a summary of the story of Stonehenge, but it also describes the creation of a new exhibition opening at the British Museum this month, and the challenges of organising hundreds of international loans during a pandemic. On this episode of The PastCast, Dr Jennifer Wexler, project curator of ‘The World of Stonehenge’, describes how the exhibition puts the famous monument in its wider context, exploring the natural and material landscapes that its builders would have known; the transformative technological, cultural, and social changes that the celebrated stones witnessed over the course of 1,500 years; and the ideas and identities it was intended to express. Wexler contributed to article on the exhibition in the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine, which is out now, and which is also available in full on The Past website. On this episode she spoke wit