British Museum, Bloomsbury,
London.
National grid reference:
Situated in the great court at the heart of the British Museum is the early mediaeval Stone of Vedac, moved from Ireland after excavation by Augustus Pitt Rivers.
It is described as being a 5th Century memorial stone one of three which were reused as part of the mediaeval ring fort of Roovesmoore Rath, County Cork.
Decoratively marked with Ogam script which reads as 'Vedac, the son of Tob of the Sogain', an early Irish tribe.
At first it seems to be largely unnoticed by the public who are drawn to the figured stones of other civilisations in the Great Court,
however when this magnificent rusty stone arouses the attention it holds for more than the usual moment, perhaps driven by curiosity or maybe by the rise of some primordial instinct. Taken from the landscape and mounted with reverence at the heart of the high cathedral of culture in the UK.
