Last week I popped round to the Natural History Museum to catch the Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story exhibition and was so glad I did. It’s a great show chronicling human existence in Britain since the first people set foot here (or at least as far back as the evidence suggests). I recommend going as it’s almost guaranteed you’ll be wowed by the artefacts and items on display.
The highlights are many, including lots of fossils and skeletons of extent animals; the Boxgrove Tibia (the oldest known human remains yet discovered in the UK); a spear that’s considered to be the oldest wooden artefact in the world; and evidence of prehistoric cannibalism (such as the top of a skull once used as a bowl). The exhibition also offers the chance to get up close and personal with the eerily realistic life-size models created by Alfons Kennis and Adrie Kennis, two amazing Dutch artists who specialize in meticulous, extremely accurate and awe-inspiring beautiful paleontological reconstructions and paintings.
Check the nifty clip below for more on the Kennis’ work:
One Million Years invites visitors to imagine what life in prehistoric Britain must have been like with hippos swimming in the Thames and Neanderthals roaming round. Maybe that last thought isn’t such a stretch if you’ve ever gone out drinking in central London on a Friday night, but you get the picture 😉
Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story is open now and runs until 28 September at the Natural History Museum (Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD). Find out more at nhm.ac.uk.
