Talk by John Hammond
17 Jul 2024 | 2.30pm | Rausing Building
£7 (includes tea and cake)
Tickets are available online and in the Athelstan Museum Shop
John Hammond says that, whilst we have always known that the Cotswolds is a great place to live, recent DNA analysis has revealed startling information about our farming ancestors, the importance of family life – and death – here in the Cotswolds 6,500 years ago. This new evidence adds to our understanding of ritual and belief during the Neolithic period and the Age of Stonehenge.
John Hammond has a PhD in European Prehistory and is a Member of the Prehistoric Society and the Chartered Institute for Archaeology. He taught at the University of Kent and in 2005 was awarded its Alumni Research Scholarship. In 2010 the university made him an Honorary Research Fellow and around the same time he was invited to become a member of the €1.7 million European Union funded “Boat 1550 BC” research team. This involved working with colleagues from France, Belgium and the Netherlands on the reconstruction of a unique Bronze Age sewn-plank boat. Also, in 2010, John was appointed Director of Operations for The Canterbury Archaeological Trust. His research interests centre on ritual and belief during the time of Stonehenge – the late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. He moved to Malmesbury after retiring in 2019.
NOTE: Doors open at 2.15pm. Tea served from 2.30pm. Talk starts at 3pm.