New Generation Thinkers: Susan Greaney and the Jomon Connection
Susan Greaney draws parallels between the Neolithic peoples of Britain and the ancient Jomon civilisation of Japan, both of whom used circles of stone in ritual celebrations.
Archeologist Susan Greaney has spent much of her life studying the Neolithic monuments of the British Isles, including Stonehenge. As part of her role at English Heritage she was invited recently to travel to Japan to see what was happening there at much the same time that the massive stones were being assembled on the high ground in Wiltshire. In this programme Susan reports from three sites in northern Japan were the ancient Jomon civilisations also turned to stones, gathered and shaped in circular formations, for what appear to have been ritual ceremonies. That, half a world away, two peoples should have sought to reflect and respond to nature in this way is astonishing and Susan's knowledge of the ancient past here inspires a new fascination for the sophistication of Japan's ancient history and the relative wealth of material, in the form of pottery and traces of domestic life, that are to be found in these old Jomon sites.
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Sun 19 Apr 2020 19:15´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3
- Sun 5 Jun 2022 19:15´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3
Featured in...
New Generation Thinkers—Free Thinking
From prison breaks to VR dinosaurs: insights from the AHRC & ´óÏó´«Ã½'s scheme for academics.
Japanese Culture—Free Thinking
From the Tale of Genjii to Godzilla, Kenzaburo Oe to Yoko Tawada …
Arts
Creativity, performance, debate
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Classical music in a strongman's Russia – has anything changed since Stalin's day?
What composer Gabriel Prokofiev and I found in Putin's Moscow...
Six Secret Smuggled Books
Six classic works of literature we wouldn't have read if they hadn't been smuggled...
Grid
Seven images inspired by the grid
World Music collector, Sir David Attenborough
The field recordings Attenborough of music performances around the world.