Valence House Museum tweeted this week that the oldest
exhibit currently on display is the Dagenham Idol.
From the webpage of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
(http://www.lbbd.gov.uk/MuseumsAndHeritage/LocalHistoryResources/Pages/EarlyHistory.aspx )
“The most remarkable object from the Neolithic period (between
c4000 and 2000 BC) is the Dagenham Idol, uncovered in 1922 in marshland just
south of Ripple Road. It is carved from Scots Pine and is around 4,300 years
old, making it almost 1,000 years older than Stonehenge and one of the earliest
examples of human representation in Europe.
“The Idol is believed to have been an offering to the gods
to increase the fertility of the land. Buried beside it was the skeleton of a
deer, possibly sacrificed for the same reason.
“The Dagenham Idol is currently on loan to Valence House
Museum from Colchester and Ipswich Museums, so why not visit Valence House and
see it for yourself?”
The Essex Society for
Archaeology and History (then the Essex Archaeological Society) carried a report
of the find in its Transactions (n.s. Volume 16 part 4 (1923)) – available from
our Online Bookshop.
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