Portable Antiquities Blog

Festival of Storytelling - British Museum 27th September

2008-09-24T16:13:13Z

Story telling logo

If you around Bloomsbury this Saturday, why not call in and see this at the BM:

Celebrating the launch of the Cultural Olympiad
Saturday 27 September, 11.00-16.30
Great Court
Admission free, just drop in

Join us for storytelling from around the world throughout the galleries to celebrate the launch of the Cultural Olympiad, a four-year programme of culture leading up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

(I had to mention this, my wife has been one of the organisers!)

BC or AD - a zend view helper

2008-09-24T14:21:36Z

Apologies for the lack of posting on the blogs recently. I'm currently engaged in rebuilding the Scheme database to make it more usable and also more joined up. This is going to take a while and I'm using Zend Framework as the base. I think I should share some code and here's a view helper for changing negative integers to a BC date and positive integers to an AD date. The class is shown below:

PLAIN TEXT

PHP:

class DEJP_View_Helper_ADBC
{
public function ADBC($string="", $suffix="BC", $prefix="AD")
{
if ($string <0) {
return abs($string). ' ' .$suffix;
//BC calendar dates are displayed with the BC as a suffix - eg 2600 BC
}
else
return $prefix.' '. abs($string);
//AD calendar dates are displayed with AD as a prefix - eg. AD 410
}
}
?>

And it would be used as such within your view script:

PLAIN TEXT

PHP:

echo $this->ADBC($table->field);?>

If I create anymore that might be useful, I'll add them.

CBA conference, last chance to book

2008-08-19T12:58:27Z

The booking deadline for the Archaeology and Education 2008 conference is approaching fast! So to get your place you need to book before Friday by going to www.britarch.ac.uk/shop/ or by sending the attached booking form back to us here at the CBA.

The Archaeology and Education conference for 2008 will take place on 5th September to 7th September (registration and accommodation will be available from the afternoon of the 4th September).

The 2008 conference will include plenary sessions on National Initiatives, International education projects, and Local projects from around the UK.

The second day will be dedicated to Workshops split into the following four themes:

Working with children and young people;
Working with the public;
Formal education workshops;
Other initiatives (PAS, YAC, EH etc.).

The final day will include a visit to archaeology and education centres within York and a plenary session of short papers sharing innovative practice and experience in archaeology and education.

Further details about the conference and are available from the conference website: www.britarch.ac.uk/conference08/ and a downloadable flyer is available from the site.

If you have any questions about the conference please email the conference organising committee on educationconference@britarch.ac.uk

British Sign Language videos on BM website

2008-07-24T14:31:52Z

The British Museum has undergone some extensive work over the last year or so. One of the latest additions are British Sign Language videos which were produced by students from Frank Barnes Primary School for Deaf children. They worked with Museum staff to give their own interpretations of African masks and headdresses, the Assyrian lion hunt reliefs and the Parthenon sculptures.

You can see the videos at the links below. To activate the BSL sign language videos, you need to click on the BSL link above the description. This activates a sliding shelf to display the video. Unfortuantely, you need flash and javascript enabled to make this work.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/schools_and_teachers/school_projects/bsl_project.aspx

HIGHLIGHT OBJECT VIDEOS
You can now watch BSL translations of 18 of the Museum's highlight objects.

See the full list of videos:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_this_site/accessibility/bsl.aspx

Lewis chessmen
Probably made in Norway, about AD 1150-1200 -
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/t/the_lewis_chessmen.aspx

Rosetta stone
From Fort St Julien, Egypt Ptolemaic Period, 196 BC
Watch: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/t/the_rosetta_stone.aspx

Feather bonnet of Yellow Calf
Arapaho, about AD 1927, from the American West
Watch:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/f/feather_bonnet_of_yellow_calf.aspx

Bronze figure of Tara
Found Sri Lanka, 8th century AD
Watch:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/g/gilded_bronze_figure_of_tara.aspx

Community Archaeology Conference

2008-07-22T16:21:13Z

One of our ex Finds Liaison Officers, Faye Simpson, is now pursuing a PhD at the University of Exeter and regularly presenting on Time Team. She's asked me to publicise this free conference.

Community Archaeology in South West England
Free Conference held at Exeter University on the 21st of February 2009.

For abstract submissions and registration please see their website or contact Faye Simpson at fs216@exeter.ac.uk.

The South West of England has a plethora of innovative community archaeology projects working within the region to provide archaeological outreach to local communities. These archaeological outreach and education projects are varied in both there approaches and organisation. They range from ‘grass roots’ projects initiated and organised by interested amateurs, individuals and local societies, to ‘top down approaches’ by commercial archaeology firms and universities. Furthermore, they include a range of hands on activities such as standing building surveys, historical research, field-walking, oral history projects, excavations and finds processing, to name just a few.

As hosts, the Heritage Lottery Fund and University of Exeter’s Exploring Archaeology Project (XArch), provides the means in which the conference can act as a forum to discuss the variety of community initiatives in the South West of England, and assess how they work in practice. It will also open up communication between these different individuals, groups and organisations as to where the future lies for community archaeology in this region, and investigate the possibility of partnerships between these groups and projects.

Abstracts for papers should be no longer the 200 words in length and should be received by the 30.09.08.

Hadrian exhibition in the press and on TV

2008-07-22T08:00:56Z

The forthcoming Hadrian exhibition is now starting to generate quiet a lot of coverage in the press. The RSS feed from Yahoo! (Google has tables in their markup and that ruined my aesthethics ) incorporated into this post updates with the latest news stories relating to the exhibition. Happy reading

Last night also saw Dan Snow on BBC2 talking about Hadrian, if you missed it and you're able to use iplayer then you can watch it again. Broadcast news comments on the documentary:

BBC2's new historical documentary Hadrian was in a commanding position on Saturday with 2.2m viewers (11.1%) in an 8pm slot.

RSS feed of news articles for "Hadrian exhibition".

Dinner lady serves up tasty art work (The Journal)
DINNER lady Paula Lees handles plates all day but paint palettes at night. The 44-year-old dinner lady has just launched her first art exhibition at The Customs House in South Shields.
Daniel Craig Lined Up To Play Hadrian (RainbowNetwork.com)
Daniel Craig is being lined up to star as the Roman emperor Hadrian in a new film.
Hadrian Fact File (RainbowNetwork.com)
Are you the kind of person that thinks ancient history is a bit dull, just a load of crumbling ruins, long lists of dates and unhappy memories of boring latin lessons? If you are then it's time to think again.
Roman treasures are coming home (The Journal)
FINDS from Northumberland which have been voted Britain’s greatest archaeological treasure are set to return to the county.
Just go with the flow on this northern trail (Independent)
Head west from Newcastle, go up a bit, and you'll find yourself in Hadrian's Wall country. The Roman fortification still casts a spell over us, as witnessed by the popularity of the exhibition on Emperor Hadrian at the British Museum, which runs until the end of the month.
LOG ON (RainbowNetwork.com)
Cringey Crushes Fun : Top Ten They are uncool, decidedly square and often downright weird - but what the hell? We love them anyway!
Hadrian exhibition: Look on this work, ye mighty, and despair (Guardian Unlimited)
In post-imperial Europe empires usually get a bad press. Yet they continue to haunt our collective imagination. It is hard to look at the ever-expanding EU without thinking of the Roman empire, which successive conquerors have sought to recreate ever since.
Hadrian exhibition: Look on this work, ye mighty, and despair (Guardian Unlimited)
Michael White: In post-imperial Europe empires usually get a bad press. Yet they continue to haunt our collective imagination

Hadrian on TV

2008-07-22T08:01:23Z

This just came through in our office notices and might be of interest to those with a Romanist stance.

'Hadrian' - Saturday 19th July, BBC2, 20:00

As the British Museum prepares to launch its spectacular exhibition on the emperor Hadrian, Dan Snow takes us on a journey around Hadrian's vast empire. As he does so, he uncovers the genius and the darker side of the man: peace-maker, frontier-builder, star-crossed lover, architect - and ruthless oppressor of the Jews. But still, says Dan, "One of the greatest of all Roman Emperors."

Young Archaeologist of the Year Award 2008 Judges Announced

2008-07-16T15:56:23Z

I just saw this on the Britarch list, in amongst the ire being directed at the awful Bonekickers series. In a roundabout way, we're sort of connected to this.....

The 1st September will see the deadline for this year's Young Archaeologist of the Year Award 2008 entries. This competition is organised by the Young Archaeologists' Club (YAC) and is open to young people in the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man between the ages of 8 and 16 years old (there are three categories; 8-11, 12-16, and groups). Every year the challenge has a different theme, this year's being archaeological illustration.
YAC are thrilled to announce that the individual category (both age groups) will be judged by Time Team illustrator Victor Ambrus. Victor had this to say about the award, "I am very much looking forward to seeing the entries submitted for the Young Archaeologist of the Year Award competition. Young Archaeologists frequently turn up on Time Team digs and get really involved in the trenches. These young people are the next generation of archaeologists and I hope that some of them will be the next generation of illustrators as well!"

The group category will be judged by Roger Bland, Head of Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum.

The winners of the Individual categories will be given their awards at the British Archaeological Award ceremony on the 10th November which is being held at the British Museum. This all expenses paid trip to the award ceremony is part of the winners' prize in addition to other goodies and behind the scenes activities at the museum. The winners of the group award will win a range of goodies as well as an all-expenses paid, behind-the-scenes visit to a nearby property owned by National Trust if in England or Wales, The National Trust for Scotland or Historic Scotland if in Scotland, a similar organisation if on the Channel Islands and Manx Heritage on the Isle of Man.

The entries for this annual competition are always of a very high standard and we are sure that this year will be no different. We look forward to announcing the winners mid September.

Workflow icon semantics on our database

2008-07-16T13:40:36Z

I've had a couple of queries over the last week regarding the traffic light system that we use on our database. This reflects our workflow system of publication and is explained below:

- The red dot, which researchers and Finds Liaison Officers, admin and Finds Advisers can see means that the artefact record is incomplete. These records are not available to the public.

- The grey dot is visible to FLOs, admin and finds advisers. This means that the record has some problems associated with it, for example Grid Reference is incorrect (in the sea maybe...) or they are awaiting more details. Usually it is a reminder that the record needs finishing.

- The yellow dot means that the record has been sent by the recording officer to be validated by a finds adviser. These records are available to all users.

- The green dot means that one of our Finds Advisers has checked the record and published it as a record they think is spot on. However, we do make mistakes, so if you spot a mistake let us know.

Hadrian exhibition starts soon

2008-07-22T08:01:40Z

Marble bust of the Roman Emperor Hadrian wearing military dress. From Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Lazio, Italy, c. AD 118–130

On the 24th July, the British Museum's eagerly awaited exhibition on the life of the Emperor Hadrian is due to open in the Round Reading Room. This follows on from the blockbusting 'First Emperor' exhibition that closes a few weeks ago and garnered much critical acclaim and helped the BM to beat Blackpool as the UK's biggest tourist attraction. The Times quoted:

[..]attracting 6.04 million people, an increase of more than one million on the previous 12 months.[..]The museum’s blockbuster on China’s First Emperor, with its lifesize terracotta warriors among more than 120 objects lent from the tomb of Qin Shihuangdi, exceeded initial expectations twice over, with more than 850,000 visitors.

Today's Times also carries a review of the exhibition giving it 5 stars and I've picked a few pieces out I liked:

The British Museum now assembles a spectacular show whose exhibits range from the heftiest stone pieces to the most fragile slips of papyrus with anything from portrait sculptures, through stone inscriptions and architectural models, to coins and mosaic pieces in between. [..]

This show has a spacious and unhurried feel. Each item is given the opportunity to speak. And the exhibition finds a particularly evocative setting in the specially adapted space of the museum's round reading room, the dome of which is a direct reflection of the Pantheon, whose spectacular rotunda - the largest un-reinforced concrete dome in the world - Hadrian pioneered.

The BM's website has a series of short videos, narrated by the Director Neil MacGregor, about Hadrian's Empire the building of the eponymous wall, and soon there will be new additions on his love life (complicated), his visionary building plan - the amazing Pantheon in Rome for example and also the power of the image in Rome.

An As of Hadrian found on the Isle of Wight, record IOW-072A43

The Scheme has now recorded a large corpus of coins issued by Hadrian and one of these features in the exhibition. This is a relatively inauspicious copper alloy As found on the Isle of Wight and recorded with Frank Basford. The reverse of this coin (IOW-072A43) depicts Britannia, who earlier this year was removed from the Nation's coinage. Sam Moorhead has added this to the record created by Frank:

This, the first representation of Britannia on the Roman coinage, commemorates victories in Britain over northern barbarians in Britain (possibly the northern Brigantes and Caledonians tribes) following their revolt during Trajan's last years. It is also a type of coin that appears to have been issued for use in Britain only, hence it has been classified in David Walker's report on the coins from Bath as a "Coin of British Association".

The list of images and text below, relates to the coins that we have recorded and is a dynamic RSS feed which updates automatically when a new coin is recorded. We now have 727 examples recorded from around England and Wales.
----------

PAS object:YORYM-F68D78

Copper alloy sestertius possibly of Hadrian, uncertain reverse, AD 117-38.
PAS object:LVPL-24FBC4

Silver denarius of Hadrian (117-138), minted in Rome 132 AD. RIC, 264.
PAS object:LIN-0D8CC3

A very worn early Roman copper alloy sestertius, probably Hadrian (117-138).
PAS object:SUR-A33630

A very worn dupondius or as, possibly of Hadrian.
PAS object:SUR-A306E2

A very worn copper alloy As, probably of Hadrian, 117-138
PAS object:SUR-A306E2

A very worn copper alloy As, probably of Hadrian, 117-138
PAS object:YORYM-A272E5

Silver denarius of Hadrian, [P M TR P COS (DES) III], Rome, AD 118. RIC, II, p345, cf.47.
PAS object:LVPL-7E06F3

Copper alloy dupondius or as, possibly Hadrian. It is very worn so no detail can be made out.
PAS object:BERK-D9A762

A Roman silver coin : Denarius of Hadrian (AD 117-138) Reverse: Hadrian and Roma standing with spear; ADVENTVS AVGVSTI Dimensions: Diameter 18.0mm; thickness 2.25mm; weight 3.1g
PAS object:LANCUM-BB2842

Roman denarius of Hadrian dating from c. AD119-121, minted in Rome.

-----------

These finds can be represented on a google map as shown below (precise locations degraded to protect landowners' privacy and the rights of the finders) where national grid references have been converted to Latitude or longitude. (Not many at the moment!)
View Larger Map

Blog upgrade and permalink change

2008-07-16T09:20:46Z

The Wordpress team released their latest offering of their fantastic blogging platform yesterday, so I took the opportunity to upgrade our system. We're now running on 2.6 and it allows for a lot more functionality in the editing suite. The side by side edit comparison is particularly useful in the environment that the Scheme works in. There's also a good explanation of the use of cookies within this opensource software by Ryan Boren. They've released a short video of the changes, which as you can embed, I thought I might as well....

The Wordpress team released their latest offering of their fantastic blogging platform yesterday, so I took the opportunity to upgrade our system.

I've also taken the opportunity to change our permalink structure as well to the following SEO friendly URL type:

http://www.finds.org.uk/wordpress/index.php/541 -> http://www.finds.org.uk/wordpress/national-archaeology-week-is-coming

To ensure that all our old permalinks redirect with a 301 to the correct post and our search engine ranking have been maintained, I've used a plugin by Dean Lee which was very simple to use. There are several others out there that you could try out if you want to do the same thing. The permalink structure I've taken up is /%postname%/ and if you're interested in other combinations for updating your URLs, check the Wordpress codex for the correct syntax.

National Archaeology Week is coming

2008-07-11T16:45:49Z

Tomorrow sees the start of National Archaeology Week (intriguingly it runs for 9 days - 12th July - 20th August) and there is a wide and very varied series of events around the country that anyone can join in with. The Portable Antiquities Scheme is going to be at a huge variety of these, so if you see someone in one of our T-shirts, please come and say hello. If you are on Facebook, then perhaps consider joining their group.

Examples of activities include:

The Old Oswestry Hillfort Festival 2008
Sat 19 July 11.00-16.00
The Recreation Ground, Llwyn Road, Oswestry (next to Old Oswestry hillfort ~ follow signs for hillfort from A5 ~ parking at Gatacre Sports Ground a 5 minute walk from the venue) A celebration of Old Oswestry hillfort and its place in the community with hands-on activities, demonstrations, information and fun for all the family. Old Oswestry is probably the finest hillfort in the Welsh Marches and has recently been provided with both improved physical access and enhanced public information. This festival will take place on the Recreation Ground right next to the hillfort and will include activities for all ages e.g. clay-working, wattle-and-daubing and a chance to sample some recipes from the past. There will be demonstrations of lost skills, Portable Antiquities Scheme Archaeological Finds Identification and guided walks around the hillfort as well as a display telling the story of the site and presenting current and future plans. FREE EVENT!
Contact: Shelagh Lewis, Old Oswestry Local Archaeology Group, .
T: 01743 271706
E: shelagh228@MSN.com

Peter Reavill, our FLO for Herefordshire and Shropshire will be there and he says:

"I will be running one of the standard archaeological identification sessions so people can bring anything with Mud on It to me for ID / recording. The Wrexham Heritage Society will be there with a metal detecting display of finds and also talking about what they do. The guided walks of the hillfort should be fab as this sort of thing hasn't happened for free before. More information about the hillfort see http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/history/2003/12/old_oswestry.shtml or
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.00100100101300800200c

Archaeology units are also getting in on the act, for example a young consultancy in the East End of London, LP Archaeology are running an event around their Prescot Street dig. If you haven't seen their excellent website, then it is definitely one of the best excavation sites I have seen. They have flickr feeds, video, blogs and local stories to vividly retell the tale of the area. Well done. They will be having a series of talks that you need to book into, make sure you do!

The Scheme is provisionally involved in the following events. Call the named person (details found under www.finds.org.uk/involved/contacts.php) to make sure the event is still going ahead. Some events are under threat of being cancelled due to local factors.

Day	FLO	Event	Location	Times
12-Jul-08	Anna Tyacke (Cornwall)	Finds Day & Display of Finds. Also Tour of Archaeological Site	Boden, Manaccan, Lizard, Cornwall	11:00 onwards
12-Jul-08	Frances McIntosh (Cheshire, Gt Manchester & Merseyside)	Finds Day & Object Handling	Warrington Museum, ?	no details
12-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	YAC (not public event)	Lancaster City Museum, Lancashire	10:00-13:00
12-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Finds Day & Object Handling	Lancaster City Museum, Lancashire	14:00-17:00
12-Jul-08	Anja Rohde (Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire)	Finds Day & Object Handling	Chesterfield Museum, St Mary's Gate, Chesterfield, Derbyshire	10:00-14:00
12-Jul-08	Wendy Scott (Leicestershire & Rutland)	Finds Day, Roman coin Display, Children's Activities	Jewry Wall Museums, Leicester, Leicestershire	11:00-16:00
12-Jul-08	Naomi Payne (Somerset)	Finds Day	Wells Museum, Somerset	11:00-15:00
12-Jul-08	Katie Hinds (Wiltshire)	Finds Day	Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum, Wiltshire	10:00-16:00
12-Jul-08	Kurt Adams (Gloucestershire & Avon)	Finds Day	Kings Weston Roman Villa, near Bristol	10:30-16:00
12-Jul-08	David Williams (Surrey)	Finds Day	Guildford Museum, Surrey	11:00-13:00
12-Jul-08	Frank Basford	Finds Day	Newport Roman Villa, Isle of Wight	10:30-15:30
12-Jul-08	Ciorstaidh Hayward Trevarthen (Dorset)	Finds Day	Priest's House Museum and Garden, Wimborne Minster, Dorset	10:00-16:00
12-Jul-08	Julian Watters (Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire)	Finds Day	Luton Museum, Luton	no details
12-Jul-08	Lisa Staves (North Lincolnshire)	Family Activities	North Lincolnshire Museum, Scunthorpe	11:00-15:00
12-Jul-08	Laura Burnett (Sussex)	Finds Day	Old Town Hall Museum, Hastings, East Sussex	11:00-15:00
12-Jul-08	Liz Andrews-Wilson (N&E Yorkhire)	Finds Day & Object Handling	Yorkshire Museum, York	11:00-16:00
12-Jul-08	Kate Sutton (London)	Finds Day	Kingston Museum, London	no details
12-Jul-08	Rachel Atherton (Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire)	Finds Day, Object Handling & Children's Activities	Derby Museum & Art Gallery, Derbyshire	11:00-16:00
12-Jul-08	Mark Lodwick (Wales)	Family Activities	National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon	11:00-16:00
12-Jul-08	Mark Lodwick (Wales)	Family Activities	National History Museum, St Fagans, Vale of Glamorgan	no details
13-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Finds Day & Talk (PAS) - part of CBA North West event	Ravenglass, Cumbria	no details
13-Jul-08	Katie Hinds (Wiltshire)	Finds Day	Lydiard Park, Swindon	13:00-16:00
13-Jul-08	Kurt Adams (Gloucestershire & Avon)	Finds Day	Grove Park, Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset	no details
13-Jul-08	Laura Burnett (Sussex)	Finds Day	East Grinstead Museum, West Sussex	14:00-17:00
13-Jul-08	Rob Webley (Hampshire)	Finds Day	Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth, Hampshire	10:00-16:30
13-Jul-08	Mark Lodwick (Wales)	Family Activities	National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon	11:00-16:00
13-Jul-08	Mark Lodwick (Wales)	Family Activities	National History Museum, St Fagans, Vale of Glamorgan	no details
14-Jul-08	Amy Cooper (S&W Yorkshire)	Finds Day	Doncaster Museum, South Yorkshire	14:00-16:00
14-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Object Handling for Schools (not public event)	Senhouse Roman Museum, Maryport, Cumbria	no details
14-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Finds Day & Object Handling	Senhouse Roman Museum, Maryport, Cumbria	13:00-17:00
15-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Object Handling for Schools (not public event)	Beacon, Whitehaven, Cumbria	10:00-12:00
15-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Finds Day	Beacon, Whitehaven, Cumbria	13:00-16:00
15-Jul-08	Laura Burnett (Sussex)	Finds Day, Object Handling & Family Activities	Marlipins Museum, Shorham, West Sussex	11:00-14:00
15-Jul-08	Rob Webley (Hampshire)	Finds Day	Basing House, Basingstoke, Hampshire	no details
16-Jul-08	Amy Cooper (S&W Yorkshire)	Finds Day	Clifton Park Museum, Rotherham, South Yorkshire	14:00-16:00
16-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Object Handling for Schools (not public event)	Penrith Museum, Cumbria	no details
16-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Finds Day & Object Handling	Penrith Museum, Cumbria	13:00-17:00
17-Jul-08	Laura Burnett (Sussex)	Finds Day, Object Handling & Family Activities	Crawley Museum, Goffs Park House, West Sussex	14:00-17:00
17-Jul-08	Ros Tyrrell (Buckinghamshire)	Talk (PAS)	Wycombe Museum, Berkshire	12:30
17-Jul-08	Naomi Payne (Somerset)	Talk (PAS)	Langport Library, Somerset	14:30
17-Jul-08	Liz Andrews-Wilson (N&E Yorkhire) with YAT	Finds Day	Barley Hall, 2 Coffee Yard, off Stonegate, York	11:00-11.45 & 13.15-14:00
17-Jul-08	Liz Andrews-Wilson (N&E Yorkhire) with YAT	Talk (PAS) - pre-book	Barley Hall, 2 Coffee Yard, off Stonegate, York	12:00-13:00
17-Jul-08	Mark Lodwick (Wales)	Family Activities	National History Museum, St Fagans, Vale of Glamorgan	no details
18-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Finds Day	Kendal Museum, Cumbria	13:00-16:00
18-Jul-08	Rob Webley (Hampshire)	Finds Day	Andover Museum, Hampshire	11:00-16:00
18-Jul-08	Mark Lodwick (Wales)	Talk (PAS)	National History Museum, St Fagans, Vale of Glamorgan	no details
19-Jul-08	Anna Tyacke (Cornwall)	Egyptian Extravaganza (Family Activities)	Royal Cornwall Museum, River Street, Truro, Cornwall	10:00-16:30
19-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Finds Day, Object Handling & Family/Children's Activities	Lancaster City Museum, Lancashire	11:00-13:00 & 14:00-17:00
19-Jul-08	Laura Burnett (Sussex)	Finds Day	Chichester Museum, West Sussex	10:30-13:30
19-Jul-08	Anja Rohde (Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire)	Finds Day & Object Handling	Milgate Museum, 48 Milgate, Newark, Nottinghamshire	10:30-12:30
19-Jul-08	Anja Rohde (Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire)	YAC (not public event)	Milgate Museum, 48 Milgate, Newark, Nottinghamshire	no details
19-Jul-08	Frances McIntosh (Cheshire, Gt Manchester & Merseyside)	Finds Day & Object Handling	Manchester Museum	no details
19-Jul-08	Steve Ashby (Northamptonshire)	Object Handling	English Heritage Festival of History, Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire	09:30-18:00
19-Jul-08	Ros Tyrrell (Buckinghamshire)	Finds Day	Buckinghamshire County Museum, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire	no details
19-Jul-08	Kurt Adams (Gloucestershire & Avon)	Finds Day	Bristol City Museum	10:30-16:00
19-Jul-08	Rob Webley (Hampshire) & Ciorstaidh Hayward Trevarthen (Dorset)	Finds Day	Red House Museum, Christchurch, Dorset	10:00-12:00 & 13:00-15:00
19-Jul-08	Liz Andrews-Wilson (N&E Yorkhire) with YAT	Finds Day & Displays	DIG, St Saviourgate, York	11:00-15:00
19-Jul-08	Kate Sutton (London)	Object Handling	Museum of London	no details
19-Jul-08	Peter Reavill (Herefordshire & Shropshire)	Finds Day	Old Oswestry Hillfort (Llwyn Recreation Ground), Oswestry, Shropshire	11:00-16:00
19-Jul-08	Mark Lodwick (Wales)	Talk (PAS)	National Museum, Cardiff	no details
19-Jul-08	Rob Collins (North East)	Finds Day & Display	Binchester Roman Fort, Co. Durham	10:00-17:00
19-Jul-08	David Williams (Surrey)	Finds Identification and other activities	Surrey History Centre, Working, Surrey	10:00-16:00
20-Jul-08	Steve Ashby (Northamptonshire)	Object Handling	English Heritage Festival of History, Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire	09:30-18:00
20-Jul-08	Lizzie Gill (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough)	Finds Day & Family Activities	Wandlebury Iron Age Fort and Country Park, Cambridgeshire	11:00-16:00
20-Jul-08	Katie Hinds (Wiltshire)	Finds Day & Mystery Object Competition	Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes, Wilshire	11:00-16:00
20-Jul-08	Kurt Adams (Gloucestershire & Avon)	Finds Day	Warmley Gardens, South Gloucestershire	10:30-16:00
20-Jul-08	Kate Sutton (London)	Object Handling	Museum of London	no details
28-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Finds Day & Family Activities	Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, Cumbria	13:00-16:00
29-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Finds Day & Object Handling	Dock Museum, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria	10:30-12:30 & 13:30-16:30
30-Jul-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Finds Day & Object Handling	The Guildhall, Carlisle, Cumbria	13:00-16:00
01-Aug-08	Dot Bruns (Lancashire & Cumbria)	Object Handling	Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, Cumbria	13:00-16:00

So if you're interested in Archaeology, then please do support this excellent week and the work of all involved.

Archaeology and Education conference [CBA]

2008-07-11T16:03:58Z

In these cash strapped times for PAS, we won't be running a conference this year. However, there is one that might be of interest.

Conference Announcement:

The Council for British Archaeology is pleased to announce the Archaeology and Education conference for 2008 will take place on 5^th September to 7^th September (registration and accommodation will be available from the afternoon of the 4^th September).

The 2008 conference will include plenary sessions on National Initiatives, International education projects, and Local projects from around the UK.

The second day will be dedicated to Workshops split into the following four themes:

Working with children and young people;
Working with the public;
Formal education workshops;
Other initiatives (PAS, YAC, EH etc.)

The final day will include a visit to archaeology and education centres within York and a plenary session of short papers sharing innovative practice and experience in archaeology and education.

Details of the conference and booking your place are available from the conference website: www.britarch.ac.uk/conference08/ and a downloadable flyer is available from the site.

If you have any questions about the conference please email the conference organising committee on educationconference@britarch.ac.uk

We look forward to seeing you here in York in September,

Andy Holland,

Education Project Officer (11 - 18),

Council for British Archaeology.

Portable Antiquities Scheme in the British Museum review 2007/2008

2008-07-16T09:20:02Z

On July 1st 2008, the British Museum Review for 2007 - 2008 was released. The Scheme features prominently on pages 46 - 47 with details of the two gold aurei of Carausius found in Derbyshire, a Pilgrim's badge depicting Saint Thomas Becket (or classical name St. Thomas a Becket) from Lincolnshire, the figurine of Cautopates from Yorkshire and information about the splendid Viking hoard now called the Vale of York hoard. I've included the photos of these discoveries below and links to the records if they have been published.

The figurine of Cautopates

SWYOR-9FCBB3

Vale of York Hoard

The Vale of York Hoard

Aureus of Carausis, Rouen

One of the two coins of Carausius.

Pilgrim badge of St Thomas a Becket

The badge of St Thomas Becket - LIN-D80A35

The Review covers a wide range of Museum activities; from Children's events, artefact loans (domestic and overseas), latest acquisitions, press coverage, blockbuster exhibitions etc. [It also talks about the new British Museum website (I helped extensively with this) that was launched in May 2007 after a year of concerted behind the scenes efforts.]

So if you're interested in the Museum's activities, download a copy from the link above.

Launch of The Headley Museums Archaeological Acquisition Fund

2008-07-10T09:38:19Z

Roger Bland passed this information onto me for publicity and it seems like a very useful source of funding for the acquisition of artefacts for museums.

The Headley Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, is delighted to announce that following the success of the Headley Museums Treasure Acquisition Scheme, it has revised its criteria and is now known as The Headley Museums Archaeological Acquisition Fund.

The scheme continues to run in association with the MLA/V & A Purchase Grant Fund. As well as being able to apply for funding towards the purchase of artefacts classified as Treasure under the Treasure Act 1996, regional and local museums can now seek funds for non-treasure archaeological artefacts from the UK which are more than 300 years old. It is hoped that this additional source of funding will encourage museums to try to acquire a wide range of finds which are often just as important archaeologically as treasure.

Since its launch in 2004, the Headley treasure scheme has made over 80 grants worth almost £160,000, enabling museums to secure treasure of both local and international importance, with purchase prices ranging from £500 to £300,000. It is already viewed as an essential resource by the museum world. The Headley Trust looks forward to assisting museums in their quest to secure the acquisition of a greater number of archaeological artefacts.

News of the launch is welcomed by Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum. He said: 'The Headley Museums Treasure Acquisition Scheme has been tremendously successful in enabling regional museums to acquire Treasure finds. I am absolutely delighted that the Trustees now wish to extend this very successful scheme to all archaeological finds from the UK, as so many are being brought to light through the Portable Antiquities Scheme.'

Note for Editors

The Headley Trust is one of 19 Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts which share a common administration.
For more information on the Headley Trust's charitable objects, and the most recent annual report, consult the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts' website at www.sfct.org.uk
The MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund is a government fund, established at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in 1881 as part of its nationwide work.
The annual grants budget, currently £1,000,000 is provided by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA)
The Fund supports the acquisition of objects relating to the arts, literature and history by regional museums, record offices and specialist libraries in England and Wales.
Each year it considers some 300 applications and in 2006-07 awarded grants to 115 organisations, enabling acquisitions of over £4 million to go ahead.
Visit the website at www.vam.ac.uk/purchasegrantfund

For further information please contact:

Dr Patricia Morison, Janet Davies