Ian Trumble gave us an insight at our meeting last March, into the planned reworking of the Egyptology Galleries at Bolton (Newsletter 210). I can report that these are now open to the public. Six gallery spaces have been completely renovated, with new designs telling the story of Bolton Museum's exceptional Ancient Egypt collection. Leach Studio from Hudersfield are the creators and I must say, judging from the on-line images, the results are quite stunning. More than 2000 artefacts are on display in an innovative array of self-supporting glass arches, creating a walkway that totally surrounds visitors with the collection. At the heart of the project is the breathtaking, fullscale recreation of the tomb of Thutmose III. This tomb (KV34) was found in 1898 and famously has the complete text of the New Kingdom's funerary rites depicted on its walls. John Johnson, who has visited the tomb itself, says the detail of the recreation is absolutely spot on. Ian says he will arrange a private tour for our Society sometime in the near future.
CBA NW Autumn Conference
This was held on Saturday last and there was a fair representation from our group (I counted 9 members in all). This was fortunate, as we were able to witness our own Ian Trumble elevated to the position of Chair at the AGM. This year's theme was 'Challenging Britannia'. Britannia is a journal published by Cambridge University for the promotion of Roman studies in Britain and is regarded with some authority in the academic world. Over the years new discoveries are being made which overturn some of the ideas published in previous volumes. This is certainly true in our area of the northwest, as the 5 well presented talks at the conference amply demonstrated. These included the recent excavations at Ribchester (Duncan Sayer & James Morris), our own work on the Roman roads north and south of Wigan (Patrick Maloney), the latest publication on Chester's Roman amphitheatre (Dan Garner) and the recent revelations on Lancaster's Quay Meadow (Andy Riley).
Perhaps the most unexpected however was the announcement by Steve Baldwin of a new Roman fort at Burscough. As reported in our last Newsletter (No. 215), our group carried out a huge resistivity survey for Steve this summer, covering an area of over 1.5 hectares. On Saturday Steve stunned the audience with the results that show quite clearly the outline of an auxiliary fort estimated to be about 4.5 acres. As mentioned before, Steve has been investigating the site for many years now. He has always known the site to be a fort, but even he was surprised by the amount of preserved detail. This site certainly changes the preconceptions of the Roman occupation of southwest Lancashire.
GM Federation Open Day
This will be on Saturday 24th November in the Peel Building at Salford University. There will be the usual roundup of the archaeological projects carried out in the GM region, including the one on the Land Gate Roman road (given by Patrick & Mandy Burns from Salford Archaeology). The cost for the day is £10 (well worth it, just to hear Patrick's talk) and you can book your place via the University's online shop http://shop.salford.ac.uk search for Archaeology Day 2018.
Up Holland U3A
The University of the Third Age is a great institution for those who have retired. The one at Up Holland is no exception and is currently thriving with over 800 members. Finding myself in this position, I recently joined, expecting there to be an archaeology group. Well there wasn't but there is now and guess who's leading it (yes, yours truly). Anyway I'm hoping it will run complementary to our Society as it meets during the week in the afternoons (useful for people who can't make our evening sessions). They meet on the second Tuesday of the month at St Teresa's Catholic Club in Up Holland at 1.45pm. The next meeting is on Tuesday 13th November when I will be given a talk on Roman Wigan.
Next Meeting
Wednesday 7th November. - in the Standish Suite at the Brocket Arms (7.30pm as usual). This month we have our own Graham Hanley. Graham is a sword maker and he will be describing how he made a copy of the Iron Age sword found at Kirkburn, Yorkshire. This sword is described by the British Museum as 'probably the finest Iron Age sword in Europe'. It was found in 1987, still in its scabbard, during the excavation of a nearby Iron Age chariot burial and dates to the 3rd century BC. Firstly Graham will be telling us about the culture that created it, then the burial where it was discovered and finally the making of the copy. Sounds absolutely fascinating, hope to see you there., BA.
|
