Personal time
Within the time structures set by societies, every individual
experiences and marks time in their own way.
This is often influenced by events in someone’s life, such as
birth (days), rites of passage, marriage and death. These events
are indicated, commemorated and remembered through
objects.
Individual celebrations
Most of us celebrate our birthdays. This is an ancient practice
as one of the Roman tablets from Vindolanda in the north of
Engla
nd (above) shows.
It is an invitation to a birthday party from the wife of a Roman
soldier to her friend and dates back to the first century AD.
Weddings are another memorable moment in people’s lives and many
objects are associated with them. The elaborate Jewish wedding ring
illustrated here would only have been used at the actual ceremony
and then become a treasured symbol of this important
event.
Men and women
In various cultures, male circumcision is carried out at a
prescribed time in a boy’s life. This public rite of passage is
experienced by all 
men of that
society.
In contrast to this public display, women from the Ainu people
of the Hokkaido area in Japan would traditionally wear sacred
thread under their clothes on reaching puberty. The thread would
protect the wearer from disease and disasters, such as sickness or
fires.
Birth and death
The two ultimate markers
of time for all of us are birth and death. The beginning of life –
the unique moment in the life of the mother and the child - is
shown graphically in a Cypriot sculpture from the Museum’s
collection. The use of this enigmatic sculpture, from the late
third century BC, is unclear.
Across many cultures, death is indicated through stones, such as
gravestones, which provide a physical reminder of a person’s
existence.
Some examples also describe the person and the moment their life
came to an end.
Shared moments
We also place ourselves within our societies through communal
experience of events, such as jubilees, sporting competitions and
anniversaries. This placement creates a collective memory, marking
shared moments in time.
More information about objects featured here (from
top)