Monuments in Action: the ‘Medway Megaliths of Kent’ and the making of new worlds

Monuments in Action: the ‘Medway Megaliths of Kent’ and the making of new worlds

The unique group of megalithic monuments in the Medway valley in Kent includes some of the earliest built structures with surviving architectural features in the British Isles. Surprisingly, despite frequent mention in antiquarian and archaeological literature since the 16th century, these extraordinary sites have been subject to little investigation, and most recent interpretations simply relied on analogies with Severn-Cotswold tombs in western Britain. It is now clear, however, especially as a result of archaeological fieldwork on the High Speed 1 Rail Project, new analyses of the Coldrum human remains, and new evidence generated by the Medway Valley Prehistoric Landscapes Project, that these interpretations are no longer tenable. This talk will redefine the ‘Medway Megaliths’, their cultural landscape settings from the 41st to the 35th century BC, and their roles in the creation of the first farming societies in Britain.

Lecture by Paul Garwood
Associate Professor of Archaeology at the University of Birmingham