The treasures of Stonehenge come to the British Museum

THE British Museum is dedicating one of its first exhibitions of 2022 to Stonehenge. Visitors will be able to immerse themselves in the history of this prehistoric site, located in the southwest of England, through hundreds of objects dating from the Bronze Age.

According to the British Museum, this is the first time that an exhibition of this scale on Stonehenge has been staged in the United Kingdom. It features some 430 objects, most of which have been loaned to the museum specially for "The World of Stonehenge."

Among them is the 4,000-year-old timber circle dubbed the "Stonehenge of the Sea," or "Seahenge." This 6.6-meter-diameter monument was discovered intact on a Norfolk beach in 1998. This is the first time that some of the 55 oak posts that make up the circle will be displayed outside of the Lynn Museum in Norfolk.

Another centerpiece of the exhibition is the "Nebra Sky Disc." This 3,600-year-old object comprises a bronze plate decorated with golden symbols, thought to represent the sun, a series of stars and the Pleiades constellation.

UNESCO considers it "one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century."

Neil Wilkin, curator of "The World of Stonehenge," told the Guardian: "It is the earliest concrete depiction of the cosmos in the world, and an amazing object to behold. It encodes key astronomical information."

According to The Art Newspaper, the significance of the "Nebra Sky Disc" is such that the British Museum had to negotiate its loan from the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle, where it is currently kept. The latter was initially only willing to lend it out for half of the exhibition's five-month run, but finally went back on its decision, much to the delight of the British institution.

Through this exhibition, the British Museum aims to trace the origins of one of the most distinctive sites in Europe, but also to situate it in its socio-historical context. "All these objects offer important clues about the beliefs, rituals, and complex worldview of Neolithic people, helping to build a vivid sense of life for Europe's earliest ancestors," reads the museum's website.

"Informed by ground-breaking recent archaeological and scientific discoveries, this landmark exhibition offers new insight on one of the world's great wonders, bringing the true story of Stonehenge into sharper focus than ever before."

"The World of Stonehenge" runs February 17 to July 17, 2022, at the British Museum in London.