What the heck is a lek?
Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.
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This clay object is a lip plug worn by the Marlborough Lady, who lived in the Bronze Age, around 1,800BC. This object was chosen by a Nepali Crafting group from Tidworth, who were fascinated by the evidence of body ornamentation and piercing that linked to their own traditions and experience.
The skeleton of a high-ranking, elderly woman was excavated in a burial mound at Manton, close to Marlborough, in 1906. She probably lived around 1,800BC – when both Stonehenge and Avebury were in their heyday. Her body was laid to rest in a burial mound within sight of the enigmatic Merlin’s Mound in Marlborough – a smaller version of the famous Silbury Hill.
The Marlborough Lady was buried with objects that showed her status in life, including a wonderful translucent disc of amber, encased in gold. The amber had been brought 700 miles across Europe from modern-day Denmark or Estonia. She also wore a finely crafted shale bead wrapped in gold wire and a necklace made of 150 shale discs graded in size. In front of her head was a simple pottery stud, almost certainly a lip plug. Her jewellery was fit for a Bond Street fashion catalogue.
She also had a miniature dagger, made of bronze and with a handle set with amber. She also had a miniature halberd, or axe, with a bronze blade and a gold handle. These miniature weapons or tools showed her importance and the respect that she had earned in her community.
Also from her grave are a beautiful urn and two small cups used for burning aromatic oils or hemp seeds, probably used in the burial ceremony.
View the lip stud on Wiltshire Museums virtual collection.
This object was chosen by a Nepali Crafting group from Tidworth, who were fascinated by the evidence of body ornamentation and piercing that linked to their own traditions. Nepal is a country with many different cultures and religions, but most women wear piercings as either body adornments or as a symbol of marriage. A phuli (a nose stud) is worn in the left nostril. Often worn with it is a bulaki (septum piercing) which consists of a ring and a pendant. Hindi women in Nepal will wear a nose ring (a nath) to symbolise their married status.
Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.
The great bustard has a dignified slow walk but tends to run when disturbed, rather than fly.
The hen-bird on display at The Salisbury Museum was one of the last great bustards to be eaten in the town!