The Essay: EarthWorks

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The Essay: EarthWorks: Mountain

EarthWorks

Mountain

BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, EarthWorks, Mountain

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby goes in search of a Neolithic axe quarry in the Lake District.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of the past in the British landscape. She climbs a Lake District peak to visit a Neolithic quarry, the source of highly prized axes.

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In ‘Mountain’ she heads for the Lake District and a site of some startling discoveries. She recounts how during the Neolithic, 6,000 years ago, skilled workers extracted the hard-wearing greenstone from the Langdales and fashioned axes that have been found throughout the British Isles.

Rose uses the lens of archaeology to reveal our impact on the world. In EarthWorks she helps us see ourselves within previous patterns of change. Archaeology, we hear, is about imagination, with layers of time revealing people and their stories folded into the earth. At a time of considerable uncertainty about our future, could understanding our past interactions with the environment help us respond and adapt to whatever comes next?  

Image: 'Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby
Produced by Mark Smalley
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Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles.

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles to help us see ourselves in previous patterns of change.

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