Europe and Middle East 10,000–800 BC

The carved chalk Folkton drums draw attention to repeated lines and eye-like forms. Their traditional name can be misleading, since their purpose is uncertain. They are among the objects in this gallery that came from burial settings. Room 51 follows a long period of change in Europe and the Middle East, including the development of farming and new ways of organizing communities. Objects placed with the dead sit alongside evidence for life, work and relationships with the natural world. Gold gives a different focus in the Mold gold cape. The choice of material and the shaping of something worn on a body can tell you about skill and display, even when much about its original use remains uncertain. Start with what survives on the surface before imagining the person or ceremony around it.