Mother Earth
The greatest turning point in human history
The greatest turning point in human history
For 250,000 years humans live nomadically as hunters and gatherers, but then something remarkable happens: 12,000 years ago, they begin to cultivate the soil, and new, mysterious gods appear. This is when our distant ancestors sow the seeds of something that changes human history forever.
Experience the special exhibition Mother Earth
Mother Earth tells the colourful story of people’s fascination with the divine. We travel into a wild and unfamiliar world of rituals and gods, but at the same time meet something familiar, which is not so different from the world we know today.
The divine powers of the Stone Age
Mother Earth deals with the greatest turning point in human history. We follow humankind from the first fertility cult in the Middle East to the mysterious ceremonies at Stonehenge in England. Along the way, we see how farming spreads along the life-giving rivers and into the huge primeval forests of Europe. We meet spiritual nature, magical grain and stand face to face with gods, who clearly begin to resemble humans.
As people begin to live in permanent settlements and cultivate the land, something interesting happens to the divine powers – the humans themselves become a creative force, which changes the world.
4,500 years in 1 minute
We have compiled a timeline involving four chronological elements of the Mother Earth exhibition, which gives you a brief overview of the divine journey of cereal grain from the Middle East to our own latitudes.
Experience the mysterious Stonehenge
Stonehenge is surrounded by mystery. Most people know what the monument looks like, but what is Stonehenge? And why did Stone Age people construct this magnificent monument? Watch this video…
At the Mother Earth exhibition, we move curiously into Stonehenge, where we participate in a great ceremony on the shortest day of the year – perhaps like the one at which every year thousands of people gathered from near and far in the Stone Age winter darkness. Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain in England still attracts thousands of people every year, and now the mystery of the monument can also be experienced at Moesgaard.
The latest research
The special exhibition Mother Earth is based on the latest research, which suggests that the Neolithic period was a time of mystery, fertility goddesses and spiritual nature. And the exhibition explores more than just this: Mother Earth also tells the story of the origins of some of the greatest challenges we face today. The archaeological remains and objects raise relevant questions about humankind’s relationship with nature, with ourselves and with each other: what is it that people try to build and create together? And what happens when people realise that they possess a creative power which can change life on Mother Earth forever?
Facts
- The special exhibition Mother Earth opens at Moesgaard on 11 October 2024 and closes on 10 August 2025.
- The exhibition is the tenth of Moesgaard’s major special exhibitions. Its opening also coincides with the tenth anniversary of Moesgaard’s iconic exhibition building, designed by architect Henning Larsen.
- The exhibition has received financial support from Augustinus Fonden, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, Beckett Fonden, Knud Højgaards Fond and Per og Lise Aarsleffs Fond.