000 Introduction

Hello, and welcome to the audio guide for A History of the World in 100 Objects. This unique exhibition tells a history of the human relationships with the things we make using one hundred objects from the British Museum’s encyclopaedic collection. The central role played by objects in human life is celebrated throughout the exhibition, which invites you to explore world history from two million years ago to the present day.

This guide explores twenty of the objects in the exhibition. Everything on display has a story to tell, but these particular objects have been chosen because they speak to us in so many different ways. By using this guide you can uncover some of their hidden histories in more detail.

Many kinds of objects are featured in this guide, ranging from a tiny gold llama to a sculpture made of guns. These objects reflect the diversity of the hundred objects you will see in the exhibition. Some are personal, made for an individual to own and cherish, whilst others were made for whole communities to use. Some of the objects were designed to solve difficult problems, while others are simply beautiful-pinnacles of aesthetic achievement that remind us of our constant search for beauty. Some objects survive as relics of lost civilisations, while others have been repurposed and reused by lots of different people.

The objects you will discover in this guide, and in the whole exhibition, can delight and amuse, intrigue and challenge, pose questions and solve problems. Above all, these objects can tell stories, coming together to tell one version of the greatest story of them all–the history of the world.