Art+Archaeology

Stonehenge Project

Archaeology and art meet in the Stonehenge landscape. Significant artists, from romantics like Constable and Turner, to moderns like Henry Moore, have drawn Stonehenge. Representations of Stonehenge go back to 1340, and the very earliest drawings from this landscape are inscribed on Neolithic chalk plaques. There could not be a richer environment for an encounter between archaeologists and artists.

The Stonehenge Project takes place at the Stonehenge Riverside excavations. The excavation project is a collaboration between five British universities. It aims to unravel the development of the prehistoric landscape around Stonehenge. The Stonehenge landscape includes two henges - Stonehenge, with its stone settings and avenue, and Durrington - a massive timber henge with its own roadway linking it to the river. Archaeologists consider that Stonehenge and Durrington are two complementary ends of a single routeway that encompasses the landscape. Effectively, parts of a single structure. This structure was built within a landscape already marked by an earlier prehistoric feature – the Stonehenge cursus. Archaeologists are excavating the cursus and associated long barrow. They are also examining Woodhenge, discovering new timber settings that were built to the south of the henge.

For the Stonehenge Project a group of artists has been selected, all of whom explore archaeological themes in their work. Artists are asked to research and respond to archaeological processes and practices, including archaeological methods of drawing and visualisation.

Stonehenge Project Photography by Debbie Zoutewelle, Brian Fay, Simon Mills and Nadine Patterson.