The Sightlines Project: a brief synopsis
This educational project utilises a creative mix of ancient and modern technology to capture imaginations and re-map a significant journey made between the Mendips and Cranborne Chase in 3,300 b.c.
THE STORY
Our inspiration comes from a Neolithic burial sited within
the ritual landscape of Down Farm on the Dorset / Wiltshire border. Excavations
in the late 1990s revealed circles of pits, a deep chalk shaft with layers
of totemic objects, and a group burial contemporary with the nearby Dorset
cursus – a woman of thirty, her daughter of five, and a brother and
sister aged eight and nine.
Isotope analysis of trace metals within the bones revealed the story of a
life spent journeying.
The woman came from the Mendips.
She journeyed to Cranborne Chase.
She returned to the Mendips with the brother and sister – but they were
not her children.
She gave birth to her daughter on the Mendips.
Together they returned to Cranborne Chase, where they ended their lives together.
Fascinating? Thought provoking?
We think so!
AIMS
Sightlines aims to put flesh on the bones of this story.
We seek to capture imaginations, investigate possibilities and find what is unalterably human about our relationship with landscape, history and our fundamental need to journey.
We aim to make the most of now to discover the secrets of then.
MORE INFORMATION
If you'd like to know more about this exciting project, please contact us for further information.
Follow the process on our blog.