Session: #32

Content:

From the Neolithic period with the arrival of farming and use of pottery at least 6,000 years ago to the beginning of the Bronze Age, people used megaliths (large stones), earth, and wood to build grandiose monuments. The number and sheer diversity of these structures is astonishing, from massive stone rows and circles to barrows, chambered tombs, and earthwork enclosures. Our knowledge of the category of monuments known as Megaliths has increased considerably in the last ten years as documented in the recently published Megaliths of the World volumes (Laporte et al 2022).
Many of these sites survive today in a ruinous condition and are not easily legible to the public, so the challenges and complexities surrounding the management and public interpretation of these sites are often formidable. We pose these questions: What strategies have been most effective in providing opportunities for public audiences to appreciate site significance and resource meanings? For example, how have local communities been allowed to participate in decision making processes for management and interpretation schemes? What community-level programs have been developed? How effective are these strategies? What are the present and future trends in managing and interpreting these sites, many of which may be in areas affected by changing weather patterns?
This ICOMOS-endorsed session presents best practice strategies for public interpretation for the incredible quantity and complexity of Megalithic sites in Europe and around the world. Continuing collaborative efforts that began in the UK in 2013, our goal is to gather extensive multinational examples that can be extrapolated into an internationally relevant best practice guidelines document on the Public Interpretation and Presentation of Megalithic monuments and sites.

Session: #32

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