Prehistoric drum is top ancient find: British Museum

The 5,000-year-old drum carved from chalk is set to go on display for the first time in a major exhibition about the Neolithic site of Stonehenge.

A carved stone drum unearthed in England is one of the most significant pieces of prehistoric art ever found in the country, the British Museum said Thursday.

The 5,000-year-old drum carved from chalk is set to go on display for the first time in a major exhibition about the Neolithic site of Stonehenge and its historical context.

"This is a truly remarkable discovery, and is the most important piece of prehistoric art to be found in Britain in the last 100 years," said Neil Wilkin, curator of the exhibition "The World of Stonehenge", which opens February 17.

Seemingly created as a sculpture or talisman rather than a functional musical instrument, the drum is one of only four known examples.

The drum was found around 240 miles (380 kilometres) from Stonehenge near the village of Burton Agnes.

This suggests that communities across Britain and Ireland shared "artistic styles, and probably beliefs, over remarkable distances", the British Museum said.

The British Museum's collection includes a group of three similar drums found in 1889 at the burial site of a single child around 15 miles (24 kilometres) away from the latest find.

Radiocarbon dating has revealed they were created at the same time as the first phase of construction of Stonehenge, between 3005 and 2890 BC. 

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