This weekend 13-14 July 2019, the Festival of Archaeology launches for two weeks of archaeology-themed events and activities across the country. We’re delighted to be attending the launch at the British Museum on Saturday, and we’ll be crossing our fingers for our star bake to win the #Archaeocake competition!
Wessex Archaeology will be joining the fun, and you can come and take part in our family-friendly activities which showcase our exciting work.
At Salisbury Museum…
On Saturday and Sunday, our Community & Education team will be out in force at the Salisbury Museum, offering free activities including our popular and hands-on ‘chocolate geoarchaeology’ and environmental sampling sessions.
Members of staff will also be sharing their expert knowledge and offering insights into some of our local projects:
Sunday at 10:30am, join Si Cleggett for ‘Wonderful Things: The Army Basing Programme and the Stonehenge Landscape’, where he will be talking about some of the extraordinary finds from our work with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) on Salisbury Plain.
Sunday at 3pm, you can find out the much-anticipated results of Phil’s Dig, a live excavation performed by Phil Harding and Lorraine Mepham in early May this year in the museum grounds. Lorraine will be joined by museum Director Adrian Green to reveal the findings, and will include Phil's film footage of the dig.
You can also hear about sites we’ve been involved with at Barrow Clump with a talk by Richard Osgood at 1:30pm on Saturday; and HS2 updates from Helen Wass at 3pm on Saturday.
For more information, visit the Salisbury Museum website.
At Bath Abbey…
Archaeology will be brought to life at Bath Abbey with free activities and tours for children.
At the Museum of Cannock Chase…
Travel back in time at the Museum of Cannock Chase on Saturday 20 July from 12-4pm. They are holding a 'Time Travel' day to show how technology has evolved from ancient to present times, with members of the Wessex archaeology team showcasing finds from the local area.
Friday 26 July and Saturday 27 July, there will be a number of free tours and hands-on activities bringing the past to life through the amazing discoveries from the Abbey's Footprint project. These will include environmental sampling with soil and magnifying glasses, artefact handling, and activities themed around the archaeology found at the Abbey, including 3D headsets to experience some of the 3D models of the archaeological dig at the Abbey so far.
The tours will cover the archaeological work taking place as part of the excavation of the Nave and special Graffiti tours of the North East Tower with Wiltshire Medieval Graffiti Survey.
For more information, visit the Bath Abbey website.
