The South West Heritage Trust will be holding three events as part of the 2016 Festival of Archaeology. Co-ordinated by the Council for British Archaeology, the festival offers hundreds of events nationwide, organised by museums and heritage organisations. The 26th Festival of Archaeology will take place between the 16 and 31 July.
An ‘Archaeology Pop Up Day’ will take place on Wednesday 27 July at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton. The session will explore the recently-concluded archaeological excavations at Hinkley Point and Cannington bypass and include real artefact handling. The project’s archaeology outreach officers will be on hand to discuss the large scale excavations that have taken place over the last four years and which include the discovery of Iron Age farmsteads and a Roman villa. The free drop-in sessions run from 11.00 am to 1.00pm and 2.00pm to 3.30pm.
On Thursday 28 July, the museum will also host an archaeology ‘Object Handling’ session with a chance to touch real objects and find out about life in the county’s distant past. The free drop-in session runs from 2.00pm to 4.00 pm.
The Crafts of Ancient Avalon’ will take place on Saturday 30 July at the Avalon Marshes Centre on Shapwick Road. The day will be packed full of demonstrations showing some of the oldest and most precious traditional skills from the past. There will be lots of chances to get hands-on and to buy hand made objects straight from the producer including willow baskets from the Avalon Marshes, beautiful bronze jewellery and prehistoric-inspired pottery.
The free event runs from 10.00am to 4.00pm (postcode BA6 9TT) and is supported by the Avalon Marshes Landscape Partnership.
South West Heritage Trust archaeologist Bob Croft said: “The annual Festival of Archaeology is a chance for everyone to learn about local heritage and get hands on with history. We have been part of some fascinating archaeological discoveries on the Avalon Marshes and at Hinkley Point and the festival is a great opportunity to share these stories with local people.”
Archaeology at Hinkley Point 