Neo
Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum’s Neolithic Man. Poor example, not a heavy worker this one.
Sites in Wiltshire
Images
Heavy butted pointed Palaeolithic handaxe of Acheulian type found on banks of River Avon, Sutton Benger
Heavy butted pointed Palaeolithic handaxe of Acheulian type found on banks of River Avon, Sutton Benger
Heavy butted pointed Palaeolithic handaxe of Acheulian type found on banks of River Avon, Sutton Benger
Neolithic polished greenstone axe found in Chippenham garden, early 1960’s
Neolithic polished greenstone axe found in Chippenham garden, early 1960’s
Bronze-age spear heads, found in Rowden, Chippenham
Articles
A woman who lives more than 4,000 miles away from Wiltshire has recreated an ancient necklace from the county.
More info :
A collaborative exhibition between aerial photographer Hedley Thorne and landscape painter Anna Dillon, exploring aerial landscapes. Their respective art forms offer a complementary and contemporary take on the landscape of Wessex.
wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/?exhibition=wessex-airscapes-of-wiltshire
A series of events are taking place this year to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Ridgeway being designated a National Trail. These kicked off last Friday with an event at the Sanctuary, Avebury WHS .... plus a walk from Avebury and back.
I visited this rather lovely exhibition yesterday – lots of quite old paintings of Stonehenge and Avebury plus other aspects the Wiltshire landscape, such as the white horses, which make Wiltshire a unique county.
Definitely worth a visit – very quiet when I visited but booking ahead is advised. Ends 30th August 2021.
The results are now in! Did the Bronze Age gold, found in a burial close to Stonehenge, came from Britain, Ireland or Brittany.
Located close to Stonehenge, Bush Barrow is Britain’s richest Bronze Age burial. The most remarkable discovery was a gold-studded dagger pommel, set with thousands of microscopic gold studs thinner than a human hair. Using a recently developed scientific technique, Dr Chris Standish of Southampton University, has identified the most likely source of the gold used to make this amazing object – answering a question that has puzzled archaeologists for decades?
Dr Standish has developed a metallurgical technique that analyses the proportions of different isotopes within the lead impurities in the gold. These proportions were compared with information about gold from known sources in Ireland, Cornwall, Wales and Brittany. A single gold stud was used for the analysis using X-ray Fluorescence – a non-destructive technique.
The blade of the Bush Barrow dagger is of a type found in both Brittany and Britain and gold-studded pommels have been found on both sides of the English Channel. Some archaeologists have thought that the dagger pommel was made in Brittany as more have been found in Brittany but the craft skills needed to make the dagger pommel are higher than used in any other goldwork in either Britain or France at this early date.
The dagger was buried with a Chieftain who died in about 1950BC at a time when Stonehenge was at the centre of an internationally important ceremonial landscape – the sarsen stone trilithons were erected in about 2,500BC and the bluestones from Wales were placed in their final positions at the site in about 1,600BC before Stonehenge finally went out of use in about 1,500BC.
Analysis undertaken 30 years ago of gold objects from burials in the Stonehenge landscape suggested that the gold used came from Ireland. Analysis by Dr Standish of gold objects found in Ireland has shown that many are made of gold from Cornwall (see this article in the Independent by David Keys) and gold from Cornwall was also used in the famous Nebra Sky Disk found in Germany and displayed at the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (see this article about the analysis of the Sky Disk).
You couldn’t really make this up.
telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/29/uks-first-pagan-burial-tomb-5000-years-hit-business-rates-bill/
salisburymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/hoards-hidden-history-ancient-britain
In partnership with the British Museum
Hoards: a Hidden History of Ancient Britain.
Salisbury Museum – until Jan 5th 2019
“In partnership with the British Museum, this exhibition traces the story of hoarding from Bronze Age weapons discovered in the river Thames and the first Iron Age coin hoards, through to hoards buried after the collapse of Roman rule in Britain and in more recent times. It will showcase recent discoveries of hoards reported by finders and archaeologists through the Treasure Act and brings together objects from the British Museum and Salisbury Museum, including the spectacular Ipswich Iron Age gold torcs and new prehistoric and Roman finds from Wessex.”
Why have ancient people placed precious objects underwater or in the ground? Were they accidentally lost or stolen, discarded as worthless, saved for recycling, hidden for safekeeping, or offered up to the gods? The archaeological evidence may point to different explanations for the burial of these hoards. Come and find out what careful study of these finds has revealed about the past.”
– Saw this today, definitely worth a trip to the historic city of Salisbury.
See British Museum link below for other dates and venues later in 2019, including Ulster Museum, Buxton Museum, IoW and Peterborough.
britishmuseum.org/about_us/tours_and_loans/uk_loans_and_tours/current_tours_and_loans/hoards.aspx
This summer, the University of Reading Archaeology Field School excavated one of the most extraordinary sites we have ever had the pleasure of investigating. The site is an Early Neolithic long barrow known as “Cat’s Brain” and is likely to date to around 3,800BC. It lies in the heart of the lush Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire, UK, halfway between the iconic monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury.
salisburymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/british-art-ancient-landscapes
On currently until Sunday, September 3, 2017
Booking: No booking required.
Cost: Normal admission charges apply.
“The British landscape has been a continual inspiration to artists across the centuries and particularly the landscapes shaped and marked by our distant ancestors. The megaliths, stone circles and chalk-cut hill figures that survive from Neolithic and Bronze Age times have stimulated many artists to make a response. In this major new exhibition curated by Professor Sam Smiles, these unique artistic responses have been brought together to create a new discussion. Featuring the work of some of the greatest names in British art from the last 250 years, see John Constable, JMW Turner, Eric Ravilious, John Piper, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Paul Nash, Richard Long, Derek Jarman and more, as their work records and reflects on some of our most treasured ancient landscapes.”
I had a look at the catalogue yesterday which is available at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes. The word catalogue does not do it justice – a very beautiful book to own, though at £25 not cheap. Several of the artworks owned by Wiltshire Museum are in the exhibition, including David Inshaw.
Well-known for its World Heritage Sites of Stonehenge and Avebury, the prehistoric monuments of Wiltshire have long provided a focus of attention for archaeologists and visitors alike. Today the Wiltshire sites are perceived as an important focal point in British prehistory.
Yet there is much more to the prehistory of Wiltshire than Stonehenge, Avebury and Silbury Hill. The latter sites are of course all here, and discussed with personal insight, but so too are the widespread fields and enclosures of the Bronze Age that established a template across the countryside for later generations to follow, and the enormous hillforts of the Iron Age that stand sentinel-like overlooking the chalkland river valleys. Interesting sites abound, particularly on the wide expanses of uncultivated downland, and these provide a remarkable insight into past societies, economy and settlement. Prehistoric impact on the landscape was huge and the archaeology reveals the nature of development and changes across the countryside.
This volume provides an up-to-date account of the prehistory of Wiltshire from the earliest evidence for human occupation to the influence on the Romano-British countryside; it outlines the effect of past climate change on the topography and how animals and people established the landscape that we know today. The story is one of exuberant but excessive monument building, of innovation potentially fuelled by competition to impress, and of the struggle to subsist.
- See more at: amberley-books.com/prehistoric-landscapes-of-wiltshire.html
An art exhibition at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Marlborough Road, Swindon SN3 6AA features a portrait of Julian Cope by the Avebury Stones – artist as yet unknown.
Exhibition is called ‘Weird Wiltshire’ – celebrating the “myth, magic and mystery of Wiltshire” in art form.
swindonopenstudios.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/weird-wiltshire-exhibition.html?spref=fb
From 1st – 29th April. Entry Free.
Opening times vary so, if planning a visit please call 01793-466571 or see web-site:
richardjefferiessociety.co.uk/RJmuseum.html
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust have made the following announcement:
“It is with much regret that we must cancel the 2017 Sarsen Trail and Neolithic Marathon.
Unfortunately there is now going to be a major military exercise on Salisbury Plain with live firing. As a result we will be unable to access the Plain or Old Carter Barracks at Bulford (the finish) on 30th April, the planned date of our Sarsen Trail and Neolithic Marathon.
We have overcome many challenges in the 29 years of running this event but after looking at alternatives including changing the date and route, none of these options are viable.
To find out more information, how to claim a refund or how to donate your entry fee please call 01380 829084.”
wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/news/index.php?Action=8&id=174&page=0
I visited this exhibition in Devizes Museum yesterday – it wasn’t an exhibition in the regular sense as, although the items were numbered, they were interspersed among the museum’s excellent permanent collection. There were some surprises – a bowl from West Kennet Long Barrow, the Roundway Down Archer (neither of which I had seen before).
It seems to be a county wide project so worth checking the other museums too.
insidewiltshire.co.uk/5000-years-of-history-unearthed-at-site-for-new-army-homes/
“The archaeological work that uncovered these exciting remains was undertaken as part of the normal planning process and we are pleased that, as a result, it has been agreed some of the most significant archaeology will be preserved within the planned open space. The remains date from the prehistoric to the modern periods and add new chapters to the story of Bulford. These finds are a great example of the fantastic range of archaeology that lies unseen under our county waiting to be rediscovered, and how sustainable development can help to tell us more about our past.”
A further phase of excavation is planned to examine the two prehistoric monuments beside which the Saxon cemetery was established. These appear to consist of Early Bronze Age round barrows that may have earlier, Neolithic origins. They are likely to be granted scheduled monument protection by Historic England and will be preserved in situ in a part of the site that will remain undeveloped. Neolithic pits outside the monuments contained decorated ‘Grooved Ware’ pottery, stone and flint axes, a finely made disc-shaped flint knife, a chalk bowl, and the bones of red deer, roe deer and aurochs (extinct wild cattle).
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-35523757
“A Bronze Age cremation burial has been discovered near Stonehenge after being accidentally dug up by a badger. Objects found in a burial mound at Netheravon, Wiltshire, include a bronze saw, an archer’s wrist guard, a copper chisel and cremated human remains.
Experts believe the burial may have been that of an archer or a person who made archery equipment.
The artefacts date back to 2,200-2,000BC, senior archaeologist Richard Osgood, of the MOD, said.”
These will be displayed in the Wiltshire Museum at Devizes later in the year.
phys.org/news/2015-06-exploring-ancient-life-vale-pewsey.html
The Vale of Pewsey is not only rich in Neolithic archaeology. It is home to a variety of other fascinating historical monuments from various periods in history, including Roman settlements, a deserted medieval village and post-medieval water meadows. A suite of other investigations along the River Avon will explore the vital role of the Vale’s environment throughout history.
Dr Leary continued: “One of the many wonderful opportunities this excavation presents is to reveal the secret of the Vale itself. Communities throughout time settled and thrived there – a key aim of the dig is to further our understanding of how the use of the landscape evolved – from prehistory to history.”
Duncan Wilson, Historic England Chief Executive, added: “Bigger than Avebury, ten times the size of Stonehenge and half way between the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Sites, comparatively little is known about this fascinating and ancient landscape. The work will help Historic England focus on identifying sites for protection and improved management, as well as adding a new dimension to our understanding of this important archaeological environment.”
The Vale of Pewsey excavation also marks the start of the new University of Reading Archaeology Field School. Previously run at the world-famous Roman town site of Silchester, the Field School will see archaeology students and enthusiasts from Reading and across the globe join the excavation.
The six week dig runs from 15th June to 25th July. Visitors are welcome to see the excavation in progress every day, except Fridays, between 10:00am and 5pm. Groups must book in advance
Devizes Museum will be holding an exhibition of our work from 13th June till 31st August 2015.
wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=1016&prev=3&catID=5
As part of the national heritage open days scheme, Wiltshire Museum will be open for free to the public this Saturday, 13 September between 1000-1700
heritageopendays.org.uk/directory/wiltshire-museum
The Museum and Library have been at their current location in Long Street since 1873, occupying first the old Victorian Devizes Grammar School, then the two Georgian houses on either side of the Entrance Hall. Further extensions have increased its size to the present day. It has overseen many of the famous excavations on Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs made by the Cunnington family and is a repository of the artefacts and writings of earlier antiquaries such as Sir Richard Colt Hoare of Stourhead House.
Wiltshire Museum
Long Street, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 1NS
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-28276503
A £2.4m extension to Salisbury Museum housing more than 2,500 rare artefacts has opened.
The Wessex Gallery of Archaeology, which was partly funded by a lottery grant, is home to to a large collection of Stonehenge-related pieces.
These include the skeleton of a wealthy and powerful Bronze Age man dubbed the “Amesbury Archer” discovered in 2003.
The gallery also includes the Wardour Hoard containing 4,000-year-old sword fragments, spearheads and chisels.
Karl Lee, flintknapper and primitive technologist will be performing his art as part of the Festival of Archaeology 2014.
This event is free and runs from 10:00-04:00 on Sat 12th Jul 2014 at Chippenham Museum & Heritage Centre 10, Market Place, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 3HF Tel: 01249 705020 Email: [email protected] Web: www.chippenham.gov.uk
Karl will be not only be making various flint impliments but selling items from his previous demonstrations.
For an insight into Karl’s skill, see video from his previous demonstrations at the museum in 2011, a Ovate Hand Axe as used during the Paleolithic period, youtube.com/watch?v=xsHGXkxyQDU and a leaf shaped arrow head typical of the ones used during the Neolitchic period. youtube.com/watch?v=1rz99-0Zryg
For a profile of Karl, see the primitive technologist website – primitive-technology.co.uk/karl-lee/
Well there is going to plenty of news on this front from now on, 700 houses to be built near Purton. Swindon is looking for a further 60,000 new houses to be built in the future...
A small Iron Age settlement has been found during excavations at the site of a new housing development near Swindon.
A number of “round houses” with hundreds of pits for storage are among the discoveries at Ridgeway Farm, where Taylor Wimpey is building 700 homes.
Other items found include loom weights for weaving, quern stones for grinding corn and various personal items.
Andrew Manning from Wessex Archaeology, which is carrying out the work, said the find was of local significance.
He added that some evidence of Roman life, notably a large clay quarry pit, had been unearthed as well.
The archaeological digging is expected to continue for a further three weeks.
A Taylor Wimpey spokesman said: “We scheduled the archaeological investigation into our programme of work, as it is a vital step of the process.
“The work will continue until our contractors are completely satisfied that they have thoroughly investigated and recovered everything which they need for further analysis.”
STONEHENGE AND AVEBURY (MAP 1:10 000 SCALE)
EXPLORING THE WORLD HERITAGE SITE
english-heritage.org.uk/publications/stonehenge-avebury-map/
amazon.co.uk/Stonehenge-Avebury-Exploring-Heritage-English/dp/1848021267
Ideal for walkers and anyone wishing to explore the fascinating landscape of Stonehenge and Avebury
A UNESCO World Heritage Site – internationally important for its unique prehistoric landscape
Shows visible and hidden archaeological remains
The Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site is internationally important for its outstanding prehistoric monuments. Stonehenge is the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world, while Avebury is the largest. Around them lie numerous other monuments and sites, which demonstrate over 2,000 years of continuous use. Together they form a unique prehistoric landscape.There is no better way to learn about an experience the monuments than to go out and explore the World Heritage Site on foot. This map is ideal for walkers and others wishing to explore the fascinating landscape of the two areas of the World Heritage Site. The map uses an Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 base and draws upon information from the English Heritage Archive and recent archaeological investigations. With Stonehenge on one side and Avebury on the other, the map shows and describes both visible and hidden remains, with information about where you can find out more.The map is divided into two parts on a durable double sided water resistant sheet.
Status: Completed
Format: Map
Size: 240 x 133 mm (folded)
Publication Date: 15/12/2013
Product Code: 51757
ISBN: 9781848021266
Series: Archaeology
Price: £9.99
Wiltshire Archaeology Field Group (WAFG).
Archaeology in Wiltshire Conference 2014 – 9:30 am, Saturday, 15 March, 2014
A Conference exploring recent archaeological work in Wiltshire, including developer-funded work. This builds on last year’s very successful conference, attended by over 200 people.
The Conference will start at 9.30 for coffee, with talks from 10.00 until about 4.45.
The Conference is being organised by the Wiltshire Museum and the Archaeology Field Group of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society.
The Conference is being held at the Corn Exchange in Devizes Market Place. The most convenient car park is at Station Road – follow this link to a Google Map. It is a very short walk up Station Road to the Market Place, and the Corn Exchange is immediately on your right, next to the Bear Hotel – follow this link in Google Street View.
Confirmed so far
* Melanie Pomeroy-Kellinger – Overview of recent archaeological work in Wiltshire
* Richard Osgood – Operation Nightingale: Excavating a Spitfire on Salisbury Plain
* Roy Canham – LIDAR: Seeing the Ancient Landscapes of Bradford-on-Avon
* David Sabin – Recent Geophysics surveys in Wiltshire
* Overview of recent work by the Archaeology Field Group
We are busy talking to possible speakers and there are more to come ...
Booking:Please telephone the Wiltshire Museum on 01380 727369 to book your ticket. We can take credit / debit card payments over the telephone. The Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 12-4. The Museum is not open on Mondays Jan – March. You may also send a cheque made payable to WANHS.
Cost: £25 (£20 for WANHS Members)
“OPPOSITION is mounting to a proposal to create what is believed to be the country’s largest photovoltaic solar farm in a protected landscape area. Natural England and English Heritage are both throwing their hats into the ring, as Swindon Council closes its seven-week consultation on the proposal for 50,000 ground mounted PV arrays at the former [Royal Air Force base] at Wroughton. The site will produce 41 MW of electricity on 200 acres – an area larger than the village of Chiseldon, or the size of more than 100 football pitches.”
More here – thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/10662036.Fears_solar_farm_will_ruin_beauty_of_area/
swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/10594307.The_hills_have_eyes____and_a_spear/
“.... it can be revealed that for the best part of 3,000 years a hillside near Swindon was the site of an epic chalk carving of a giant spearman.
The 130ft high hill figure at Foxhill near Wanborough is believed to have been maintained for generations, almost certainly in honour of pagan gods worshipped throughout the centuries.”
Thursday 5th September 2013 2.15 pm
Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre, Cocklebury Road, Chippenham SN15 3QN
An insight into two of the richest archaeological sites in the country. This talk will help you explore these ancient landscapes and celebrate their contribution to our understanding of our prehistoric ancestors. Limited 30 people
Admission £3.50 (concessions £2.50). Spaces are limited so please buy your ticket in advance. Telephone 01249 705500 or visit our Help Desk at the History Centre. (Payment by credit/debit card or cheque available for the purchase of 2 or more tickets).
Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre, Cocklebury Road, Chippenham SN15 3QN
Ever wondered what the county archaeology team based in the History Centre does?
Curious to take a tour of the Conservation Labs upstairs?
Maybe you would like to find out about recent excavations, hoards and the work of local archaeology field units?
The Archaeology and Conservation Fair on Sunday 14th July at the History Centre is a fantastic FREE event with stands from 20 local archaeological organisations and a programme of free 10 minute talks that will tell you all about archaeology in the county.
Open from 11am to 4pm, the fair includes stands from Wiltshire’s museums, Wessex archaeology, the National Trust and English Heritage. There will be plenty to interest visitors of all ages, including information on courses, volunteering, and fieldwork. Younger visitors will enjoy making their own Stonehenge, trying out a sandpit dig, handling a range of real objects and finding out about the Young Archaeologists clubs running in Wiltshire and Swindon. The ten minute talks’ programme will run throughout the day and includes talks on the First World War project, Finding the Forgotten, the conservation of a large Romano-British pot found in Highworth, recent surveys, excavations and the discovery of 2 important early iron age hoards. Please see the full talks programme for times of individual talks. Tours of the conservation labs will run all day and you can visit the county archaeology service to find out about their work and see the Historic Environment Register demonstrated.
For further information on this event see the History Centre events page
New College in Swindon is running an eight week course on the prehistoric sites of Wiltshire.
newcollege.ac.uk/course-information-sheets/prehistoric-wiltshire
Course starts 30th April, includes three field trips, cost £60.
Museums in Wiltshire have told the council they can no longer accept artefacts excavated during development.
Wiltshire Heritage Museum and Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum said their archaeological stores were full.
David Dawson, from Wiltshire Heritage Museum, said: “We’ve got about 5,000 boxes of archaeological finds at the museum – and have no more space.”
Wiltshire Council said it “recognises the need” and is “proposing a new large storage facility for these items”.
“We’ve got about 400,000 archaeological artefacts everything from fragments of pottery and shards of flint to carts and wagons,” said Mr Dawson.
“And we get about 50 to 100 boxes a year from developers.
“Salisbury museum has been full for 10 years and we had to get an off-site store to continue to take in artefacts but now that’s full.”
Stuart Wheeler, from Wiltshire Council, said it was important that the county’s “historical artefacts are kept for future generations”.
He said: “Heritage centres have been doing a wonderful job of preserving these finds for many years.
“We are now proposing a new large storage facility for these items which would ideally be funded by developers who uncover archaeological items on their site.
“This facility will be supported by the museums.
Remnants of an Iron-Age feast, including cattle skulls and 13 cauldrons, have been unearthed in Chiseldon, United Kingdom, according to a report in the latest British Archaeology
The discovery marks the largest grouping of early cauldrons ever found in Europe. One cauldron features a handle plate in the form of a cow’s head; zoomorphic decoration is otherwise unknown on a British cauldron.
“Analysis of the interiors of the cauldrons has even revealed traces of animal fats, a tantalizing suggestion that these objects might have been used in cooking and serving meat-rich stews at Iron-Age feasts over 2,000 ago,” Julia Farley, curator of European Iron Age collections at the British Museum, told Discovery News.
Farley’s colleague Jody Joy, as well as Alexandra Baldwin and Jamie Hood from the museum, are still studying the artifacts, which were found buried in a 6.6-feet-wide pit. The cauldrons were made from iron and copper alloy in the second or first century B.C.
Each was built to last, with an iron rim and band supporting circular suspension handles. The main body of the cauldrons consisted of a central band and bowl of sheet copper alloy riveted together. “The iron rim and handles gave strength and rigidity, while the copper-alloy bowl acted as an excellent heat conductor,” the researchers note.
When the cauldrons were buried, nearby Barbury Castle still might have been occupied. Another hill fort, Liddington Castle, likely had been abandoned. Nevertheless, given the possible fort protection and open space, “Chiseldon looks to be an ideal meeting place,” the researchers believe.
What the cauldrons were last used for is a bit of a mystery, but Joy and team suspect “large quantities of food and drink were probably consumed.” Feasts at the time “would have marked significant events in the calendar or special occasions, such as marriages.”
Beef was the star attraction at the last big feast involving the cauldrons, the evidence suggests. The two cattle skulls, cow cauldron decoration and traces of animal fats all theoretically point to beef.
But the experts say it’s too soon to make that conclusion.
Archaeologist Mike Pitts, who also edits British Archaeology, told Discovery News that “notwithstanding the cattle skulls, it might well have been pork. Pigs were important animals in feasting. Of course, whatever was in the cauldrons was boiled.”
While the British are now renowned for beef dishes, with the Tower of London ceremonial guardians even known as Beefeaters, beef wasn’t always so popular and widely available, Pitts said.
“Roast beef as a national dish really took root in the 18th century, which is also when ‘les rosbifs’ apparently became popular in France as a nickname for the English,” he said.
Farley agreed, saying, “Iron Age people also ate pig, sheep, and occasionally horse. Indeed, pork seems often to have been favored for feasting.”
DNA testing of the lipids in future could solve the mystery.
(Images: British Museum, John Winterburn, Wessex Archaeology; Stephen Crummy)
news.discovery.com/history/evidence-for-huge-meaty-bc-feast-found-in-england-20121212.html
A priceless prehistoric gold lozenge excavated in the 19th century will be put on public display for the first time when the new Neolithic gallery at Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes opens next year.
The museum was awarded a £370,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund earlier this year to finance the new gallery, which will be built at the rear of the museum and is due to open in May.
Secure display units will enable the museum to show items that were thought too valuable for public display.
Foremost of these is the large gold lozenge that was found in the Bush Barrow grave near Stonehenge, dating from around 1900BC, which was excavated by William Cunnington in 1808.
David Dawson, director of the museum, said: “A replica of the lozenge has always been on display here but as far as I am aware the original has never been put on show.
“The HLF grant has now enabled us to afford high- security measures.”
Other items from the grave to be put on show are a mace, the head of which was made from a rare flecked fossil stone from Devon, while the
handle was embellished with bone zigzag mounts, and a smaller lozenge, which may well have been mounted on the handle of the mace.
There are also more recent finds in the new galleries including items from the grave of the Roundway Warrior, also excavated by William Cunnington in 1855, items from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery that was excavated in 1991 and artefacts from a dig by the Army at Barrow Clump near Figheldean on Salisbury Plain earlier this year.
Building work on the new galleries is due to begin in December and the fitting out is scheduled to run from January to the end of March. The objects will be installed during April, ready for the grand opening in May.
Dr Dawson said: “We want to open the galleries in time for our summer season.”
This could well be waaaay Off-Topic, but it does mention burial mounds! :-)
WILTSHIRE Heritage Museum in Devizes could be"effectively bankrupt” in two to three years unless Wiltshire Council comes to its aid.
The museum, which houses the most significant Bronze Age collection outside London, has been running at a deficit ever since the then Wiltshire County Council cut its grant several years ago and last year the shortfall was £69,000, effectively the cost of running the museum.
It is owned and run by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, a registered charity.
See link for full story:
gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/towns/devizesheadlines/9432156.Heritage_Museum_faces_ruin/
Fascinating article about Salisbury Plain and the protection of monuments against the military presence there.... Not able to copy so you have to go to the link.....
heritagedaily.com/2011/11/salisbury-plain-a-hidden-archaeological-gem/
At last we have an example of a metal detectorist doing the ‘right thing’.
salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/9336972.Ancient_artefacts_unearthed_in_Tisbury/?ref=mr
A REPLICA of a globally important iron age artefact from Chiseldon is to be made for display in the village. Funds for the project have come from an anymous donor.
The Chiseldon Cauldrons, found in a field on the village boundary in 2004, are thought to have been ritually buried following a feast marking a great event, possibly the marriage or death of a great leader.
For full story see link.
swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/9272499.Artefact____returning____thanks_to_donation/
“An exhibition of works by Rob Pountney, Dave Gunning and David Inshaw depicting the spectacular landscapes and ancient archaeological sites that feature in the novels and poems of Thomas Hardy.
“These contemporary artistic representations of Hardy’s fictionalized ‘Wessex’ are highly evocative, focusing attention on the physical and atmospheric qualities of the landscape, in much the same way that Hardy used prose to generate melodrama and set the scene in his work.”
The exhibition is on show in the Wiltshire Heritage Museum’s Art Gallery from Saturday, 28 May until Monday, 29 August 2011. More here – wiltshireheritage.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=631&prev=1
David Dawson, the Director of the Wiltshire Heritage Museum has obtained funding to run a ‘henge hopper’ initally for a three month period this summer.
stonehenge-avebury-bus.org.uk/
Today a trial run took place – the first part of the tour was to Stonehenge via Marden Henge, the River Avon, Durrington Walls/Woodhenge, Amesbury and Stonehenge. After a break break at Stonehenge the bus took off towards Avebury via the Alton Barnes White Horse, Adam’s Grave, Knap Hill, the Lockeridge Sarsen Drift, Overton Round Barrows, the Sanctuary, WKLB, Silbury and of course finishing at Avebury. Then back to Devizes as the ticket cost includes admission to the Wiltshire Heritage Museum. The itinerary will allow for people to leave the bus at various points and be collected later – it is also hoped that two buses will run on the same day to facilitate flexibility.
All in all the tour takes approximately three and half hours not including travelling time to Devizes.
A great initiative for the Wiltshire Heritage Museum.
Writing in the The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald yesterday, Lewis Cowen reports that,
“The Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes has been awarded £58,200 to work on plans to create new Bronze Age galleries. The money has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund and now the museum will progress to the second stage of the HLF application process. The project will cost more than £200,000 and the museum, in Long Street, will have to contribute between £20,000 and £30,000. The new galleries will feature the rich finds from burials in the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. The project will feature the unique gold and amber finds that define the Bronze Age Wessex culture and are currently locked away in the museum’s vaults. The most famous of these are the 4,000-year-old finds from Bush Barrow, including a gold lozenge, belt hook, stone mace and richly decorated bronze dagger. The new displays will also include objects excavated from Upton Lovell and Manton as well as recent finds from Marden Henge, near Devizes.”
More here – gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/8938471.__58_000_bronze_age_windfall_for_Wiltshire_museum/ and here – heritageaction.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/good-or-bad-news-for-wiltshire-heritage-museum/
Approval and funding have been granted for the advanced planning of The Great Stones Way (GSW).
The Great Stones Way proposal envisages a walking route between the present end of the Ridgeway National Trail at Overton Hill near Avebury, southwards along the old Ridgeway track, through the Vale of Pewsey and up onto Salisbury Plain at Broadbury Banks.
A route is then to be agreed with the Ministry of Defence around the edge of the military ranges above the Avon Valley to the Durrington Walls ancient causewayed enclosure, and Woodhenge near to Stonehenge.
An alternative route may need to be adopted along the Avon Valley. After Stonehenge the route will cross Normanton Down to Great Durnford, then above the east bank of the Avon to end at Old Sarum. At a later stage, a link route will be adopted across Cranford Chase to join the Wessex Ridgeway at Win Green on the Dorset border.
The Great Stones Way project was first proposed to the Friends of the Ridgeway Executive Committee in August 2007 and the idea has subsequently developed to the point were detailed planning and funding can be carried out.
For more information on the current development plans see The Friends of the Ridgeway web site at
ridgewayfriends.org.uk/greatstonesway.html
and for an overview of The Great Stones Way project
ridgewayfriends.org.uk/GSWconcept.html
Chance
Druids delight as Stonehenge road closure gets go ahead
“The Annual General Meeting of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society will take place at Devizes Town Hall, commencing at 2.30pm (10 October, 2009). This will be followed by a lecture from Prof. Mike Parker Pearson.
“Mike’s talk is entitled ‘The Stonehenge Riverside Project – Recent Results’. It is sure to be very popular so advance booking is essential. If you are interested in attending the lecture contact 01380 727369...”
More here – wiltshireheritage.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=442&prev=1
“About 4,500 years ago some inhabitants of Britain suddenly started wearing and being buried with jewellery. Subsequent centuries saw objects being fashioned out of amber, jet, gold, copper, bone and faience in a bewildering variety of forms.”
A lecture entitled ‘Prehistoric Jewellery in Britain and Beyond’ by Ben Roberts will be held at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes from 2:30 pm on Saturday, 24 October 2009. More here – wiltshireheritage.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=444&prev=3&catID=4
Culture minister Barbara Follett has announced a £150,000 grant for the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes. The grant will be used to create a new Bronze Age Gallery to house material excavated from the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.
More here – wiltshireheritage.org.uk/news/index.php?Action=8&id=83&page=0 and here – nce.co.uk/news/structures/4m-construction-grant-for-uk-museums/5207448.article
“A survivor of one of the most audacious invasions of Stonehenge has turned up in time for this week’s solstice celebrations, more than 40 years after all the perpetrators were believed to have perished in a fire. As archaeologist Julian Richards prepared to exhibit his extraordinary Stonehenge collection at Salisbury museum, including snow shakers, Victorian guide books, 1920s admission tickets – 6d (2.5p) for adults and 3d for children – and some of the dodgiest T-shirts ever screen-printed, word reached him that Bruce Bogle was ready to come out of hiding.
“Bruce Bogle has joined Richards’s exhibition of Stonehenge memorabilia, which includes faked first world war postcard images of Zeppelins and biplanes buzzing the stones. His favourites include a sign scavenged in the 1980s, reading “Press pass holders and Druids only”, and a Spinal Tap picture disc from the spoof rock movie, in the shape of the great trilithons. He hopes Bruce Bogle may flush out his creators, never identified. “They must now be in their 60s or even 70s – it would be wonderful if this exhibition inspired them to come out and own up at last.”
guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jun/21/archaeology.heritage
The Inspired by Stonehenge exhibition is at Salisbury Museum until September 20.
Just before Christmas the Wiltshire Archaelogical and Natural History Society, which maintains the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, library and gallery in Devizes, heard from the county council that their grant for 2006/7 (£24,500) would not be renewed in 2007/8. One of the oldest of its type in the country, the society was founded in 1853 and has been at its current premises since 1873. Its Stourhead Collection, finds from excavations around Stonehenge by William Cunnington and Richard Colt Hoare, is recognised as one of the most outstanding groups of prehistoric artefacts in Britain. The society said the grant withdrawal threatened the future of the museum.
From British Archaeology March/April 2007
A dig near Malmesbury town walls has uncovered a substantial stone-fronted defensive rampart and a deep ditch which could date to the Iron Age.
Archaeologists believe the prehistoric hill fort would have had impressive multiple defences rising above the valley of the River Avon.
English Heritage said the results were very exciting and showed how important the town’s defences were.
The work was said to bring a new dimension to the story of Malmesbury.
‘Defensive rampart‘
A project spokesman said it was the first time that the area outside of the line of defences has been examined archaeologically.
The finds add to discoveries recorded during the previous investigation carried out during November 2005 during restoration work on the walls, that revealed new evidence about the nature of the town’s defences.
When the collapsing stone of the wall was removed, substantial clay deposits almost 3m (10ft) high were found. Archaeologists identified these as the upper rampart of the Iron Age hill fort on which Malmesbury was later built.
It is believed the whole of the Eastgate Bastion is an artificially constructed fortified gate (barbican) built to extend the area of the former hill fort and to provide substantial and impressive stone-built defences.
Investigations revealed evidence of a further rampart against the outer face of the lower levels of the town wall.
This consisted of burnt material including a large quantity of slag.
Archaeologists consider that this burnt material is probably Late Saxon and may date from the 8th or 9th Centuries AD.
If confirmed, it would add support to Malmesbury’s claim to be the oldest borough in England.
From an article published on the BBC News web site on 2nd February 2005:
A burial ground on a Wiltshire farm has been protected from plough damage by an agreement between the farmer and Defra.
Bourton Manor Farm, north west of Devizes has 28 Scheduled Monuments of national importance.
These include 10 barrows which are thought to be either Neolithic or early Bronze Age.
Plough damage is being prevented by returning the surrounding area to grassland using funding under Defra’s Countryside Stewardship Scheme.
From BBCi
Archaeologists believe they may have stumbled upon a major Stone Age site – on the route of a new bypass.
The site dates back between 250,000 and 300,000 years and may even provide evidence of one of the earliest uses of fire.
Archaeologists discovered a range of items at the location in Harnham, near Salisbury in Wiltshire, including 44 “very rare” flint hand axes – the earliest form of tool used by man.
Currently showing at the museum in Devizes is a small exhibition taken from their amazing library. You can gawp at:
– Stukeley’s actual notebook from 1717-1748 (featuring his small spidery writing)
– R Colt Hoare’s notebook
– Keiller’s foreman, WEV Young’s notebooks
– Crocker’s book containing watercolours (he was surveyor to Hoare and Cunnington)
...plus other photos, notebooks and drawings from the great and the good of the archaeological world.
And of course, their usual exhibitions of artefacts from all over Wessex including those from the Bowl barrow, a wealth of axeheads, pottery and marvellous things in general.
gleaned from ‘WeirdWiltshire.co.uk‘
15 FEB – 22 APRIL, DEVIZES: The current exhibition at Wiltshire Heritage Museum reviews the progress of the five year project, Repairing the Past, the Wiltshire Bronze Age Pot Project, funded chiefly by the Heritage Lottery Fund, to conserve 105 prehistoric pots from Wiltshire.
The delicate work is being undertaken by the county’s unsung heroes and heroines, the staff of Wiltshire County Council’s Conservation Laboratory at Salisbury.
For two-and-a-half years now they have been painstakingly removing rock-hard cement and other materials naively applied by pioneer 19th century archaeologists to the pots they had excavated in barrows around Wiltshire, in order, they believed – to preserve them the pots, which are up to 4,500 years old, are often highly decorated and are among the outstanding artistic and archaeological treasures of Wiltshire.
The early methods, used to ‘protect’ them were in fact only serving to further damage the pots. The project is now half-way through. Nearly 60 of the pots have been painstakingly restored and returned to the museum for display.
This exhibition illustrates the problems which have been suffered by the pots, the methods used by the Conservators to repair them and shows some of the complete pots and the horrendous discoveries made, such as the use of flowerpots, bicycle spokes and metal body filler!
It gives a rare insight into the fascinating world of museum conservators, the challenges they face and the successes they achieve, all for the benefit of the community.
Two ancillary events have been organised to link with the exhibition: On Sunday 2 March the museum is holding a ‘family day’ featuring Bronze Age re-enactors who will recreate different aspects of life in the Bronze Age, including pottery making.
On 2 April, Lynn Wootton, one of the Wiltshire County Council conservators will give a talk at the museum describing the work of the Conservation Laboratory in rescuing the South Cadbury Shield (a Bronze Age shield found at South Cadbury Hillfort, Somerset) and the Purton Ossuary (a Roman burial found at Purton, nr Swindon), two recent archaeological discoveries.
AN ANCIENT monument is set to have a big say in the future of the University of Bath in Swindon.
The university is hoping to build a new 8,000-student campus next to a stone circle dating back 4,500 years on the edge of the Commonhead site next to the Great Western Hospital.
The circle of five stones poking through the ground form part of an ancient tribal gathering point of similar significance to the 5,000-year-old Avebury stones, and are visible from Day House Lane off Marlborough Road.
story at:
thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/swindon/news/SWINDON_NEWS2.html
A major conservation project by Wiltshire County Council and two Wiltshire museums to preserve over 100 Bronze Age pots has reached the halfway point.
More than a hundred pots were discovered near Stonehenge, Avebury and other historical sites across Wiltshire by the Victorian archaeology pioneers, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, William Cunnington and General Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt Rivers.
More with pictures at....
24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh/ART14495.html
Wiltshire and Swindon Historic Environment Record is an online search facility for information on the known archaeological sites, monuments and finds in Wiltshire and Swindon. It offers a range of search criteria and zoomable mapping.
Photos of the weird and lovely ‘grape cups’ (aka incense cups) found in the region.
Scanned version of Sir Richard Colt Hoare’s “Ancient History of South Wiltshire” (The Ancient History of Wiltshire volume 1). What a classic! He dug into a lot of barrows (you can hear his enthusiasm. But at least he notes what he found).
The Making of Prehistoric Wiltshire’ by David Field and David McOmish with photographs by Steve Speller provides an up-to-date account of the prehistory of Wiltshire from the earliest evidence for human occupation to the influence on the Romano-British countryside.
Malmesbury, a Saxon town in north Wiltshire famous for its historic Abbey and it connection with the first king of all England, Athelstan. I was in the Athelstan Museum earlier today and was fascinated to learn Malmesbury is built on the site of an early Iron Age hill fort. Was looking at a 3D model of town in the museum and it is almost surrounded by two rivers. A town where prehistory becomes the history of England – life before the Normans. Also known as the “Queen of Hilltop Towns”.
World Heritage Day, and a film by Director Grant Wakefield in Devizes on Saturday, 19 April 2014.
A short video of the scanning technology revolutionising archaeology,
Being developed by the Friends of the Ridgeway
ridgewayfriends.org.uk/
Ten walks accessible by bus taking in some of the archaeology of the North Wessex AONB.
A web page of the 1846 book giving interpretations of various sites such as Avebury, Silbury Hill and others in Wiltshire
An excellent essay by Sam Smiles from the Tate Research Journal.