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Theme - Festival launch

Does geography affect culture and identity? The Festival launch event looked at how continent formations created global civilisations.

Past events

North, South, East and West and Civilisation

13 June, 6.30pm, Ron Cooke Hub, University of York

In his groundbreaking exploration of the progress of human history, the historian Peter Watson identifies how the development of humankind in the ‘old’ and ‘new’ worlds-between 15,000 BC and 1,500 AD-has been shaped by geography

Admission: Free, ticketed


Mesolithic deep time line

13 June, 6pm-8.30pm, Ron Cooke Hub, University of York

The concepts of time depth and the deep past's relationship to the present are central themes within Peter Watson's The Great Divide. However, the implications of these seemingly simple ideas can sometimes be difficult for us to fully comprehend. What does 15,000 years really mean in human terms?

Admission: Free