A new season, a new exhibition at West Berkshire Museum
A new exhibition marking the reopening of the ground floor galleries of West Berkshire Museum for the summer season, will be launched on Thursday 1st April
Issued on 1 March 2010
"Archaeology in West Berkshire" will highlight some of the most important discoveries of recent years and will focus on how they can inform and change our understanding not just of West Berkshire but also much further afield; discoveries like the breathtaking Crow Down Hoard, found in 2004 in Lambourn: five Bronze Age gold bracelets and armlets, thought to have been made from Irish gold, which might give an insight into trade links across Northern Europe.
The exhibition will be located in the Corn Stores gallery on the ground floor, taking advantage of extra public space. Most visitors will be familiar with terms such as Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age but they will find out that other local discoveries have provoked the re examination of this structure. For example traditionally it is believed that iron working began in Britain around 700BC. However the finding of tiny pieces of iron hammerscale dated to around 1000BC at Hartshill Quarry has raised doubts about this and encouraged further discussion.
Finds from other sites will also be on display, including those from Thatcham where the discovery of an actual Roman Road was made, a Saxon settlement in Lambourn and a medieval cemetery in Newbury where 56 skeletons were uncovered, giving a unique insight into the lives of ordinary medieval people in Newbury. Recent work at Park Way in Newbury is also featured as a key location in the town which was previously unstudied. Throughout, the exhibition will describe how artefacts are cared for once they are unearthed.
But archaeology is not just found below ground, as visitors will learn from the work of archaeologists involved in the Shaw House restoration project. What they revealed about how the house had been built and altered has informed our understanding of the story of the House and therefore the interpretation provided for today's visitors.
All this will undoubtedly whet the appetite to go out and experience archaeology first hand. Part of the exhibition will explain what sites are publicly accessible and how they can be visited. Archaeological trails will be available for younger visitors during opening hours as well as quizzes, hands on activities and other events at times and dates yet to be announced.
From 1st April West Berkshire Museum is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10.30am to 5.00pm and Sunday, 11.00am to 4.00pm. Archaeology in West Berkshire will run until 27th June. For more information please telephone (01635) 519562 or visit the West Berkshire Museum website.
