Like many archaeologists, I watched #StonehengeLostCircle last night, presented by @theAliceRoberts and featuring research led over many years (decades!) by Mike Parker Pearson. I enjoyed it, but many colleagues seem upset by it. Why? Here is a short thread. 1/9

Views vary of course, but opposition seems to be based around (1) its yet another programme about #Stonehenge; and (2) it is perpetuating an essentially #colonialist nationalist hierarchy with Wiltshire/England at the top and everywhere else below. 2/9

Dealing with (1) first. It’s a one-hour TV programme, reporting on a long-term project driven by key research questions about #Stonehenge, probably one of the best-known prehistoric monuments in the world. So it’s *going* to be about Stonehenge, plus of course it’s a hook. 3/9

In fact a vast number of other #Neolithic monuments were mentioned – many of them far away from #Stonehenge – and the programme explored ideas around how prehistoric geographies were very different from our own, in fact placing #Wales and the west at the centre. 4/9

Moving to (2), it may be true that – in words of @urbanprehisto and @GordonJBarclay – ‘unacknowledged nationalist and neo-colonialist thinking’ underpin much interpretation of ‘British’ #prehistory (see here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00665983.2020.1769399) 5/9

Yet, as a Welsh-born archaeologist working in #Wales, I didn’t find much to object to in this programme about #Stonehenge. The importance of the western #Neolithic was emphasised. Work by @RCAHMWales @AmgueddfaCymru and @UWTSD was featured. Community #engagement happened. 6/9

Most importantly #StonehengeLostCircle emphasised how small pieces come together. It showed #archaeology as a collaboration among colleagues, highlighting archaeological #science: OSL dating, strontium isotopes, geophysics, aerial photography, LiDAR, photogrammetry etc etc. 7/9

The #Stonehenge programme was a classic archaeological detective story. Yes, sometimes the narrative arc was over-egged, as our hero MPP doggedly overcame obstacles - taking one step forward and three steps back. But it was engaging, accessible and interesting. And true! 8/9

If #Stonehenge gains public support for #archaeology – understanding why it takes many people much time to progress (and why it needs proper funding) – then that’s great! And all archaeology in #Wales is freely accessible, so you can explore too: https://www.archwilio.org.uk/arch/  9/9