Museum news

This article is from Current Archaeology issue 431

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Galloway Hoard jar on show

A unique rock crystal jar from the Galloway Hoard – an unprecedented Viking Age find from south-west Scotland – has gone on display at Kirkcudbright Galleries, near where the assemblage was first discovered.

Buried around AD 900, the hoard includes objects spanning the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Ireland, and as far away as Asia. It was discovered by a metal-detectorist in 2014 and was saved for the nation by National Museums Scotland in 2017, following a major fundraising campaign supported by the National Heritage Memorial Fund and many individual donors.

Since then, painstaking conservation work has revealed fascinating details about the hoard’s contents (see CA 376), including the rock crystal jar, which was found to have been wrapped in linen and placed in a leather pouch lined with Scotland’s earliest surviving example of silk. Standing around 5cm (2in) high, it resembles an ornate perfume bottle decorated in gold filigree, and is thought to have had an ecclesiastical function, as it bears a Latin inscription, written in gold, which translates as ‘Bishop Hyguald had me made.’

The Galloway Hoard: Rock Crystal Jar will run until 14 June 2026. See http://www.kirkcudbrightgalleries.org.uk/event/the-galloway-hoard-rock-crystal-jar for more about the exhibition, and http://www.nms.ac.uk/discover-catalogue/galloway-hoard for more about the Galloway Hoard.

Police appeal following Bristol Museum theft

Avon and Somerset Police are appealing for help from the public to identify four men from CCTV images, following the theft of more than 600 artefacts from Bristol Museum.

The museum’s archives were broken into twice in the early hours of 25 September 2025, and during these raids hundreds of items from the British Empire & Commonwealth Collection were stolen, including military memorabilia, jewellery, and bronze, silver, and carved ivory figurines.

Detectives investigating the burglary wish to speak to four men who were filmed by CCTV, as they believe they will be able to aid them with their enquiries.

To see the CCTV images and descriptions of the individuals, go to http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/news/2025/12/cctv-appeal-after-museum-artefacts-stolen. If you recognise any of those pictured, or have seen any of the items being sold online, please call 101 and quote the reference 5225269603.

Colchester mosaic to go on permanent display

A Roman mosaic discovered in Colchester is to go on permanent display in its original setting, following the city council’s approval of plans to install a glass panel over the 1,800-year-old floor.

The mosaic was recorded and reburied in the 1980s, during work on the Lion Walk Shopping Centre, and was re-excavated by Colchester Archaeological Trust in 2023.

The newly approved project will see the mosaic protected within a purpose-built steel-and-concrete structure below the pavement in Red Lion Yard, with specialist lighting and ventilation designed to safeguard the archaeology, and a glazed panel above. The works are expected to be completed in the second half of 2026.

New exhibitions

By Appointment Only: Romani art, culture & heritage
London Museum Docklands
Until 31 January 2027
http://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/by-appointment-only

Hawai‘i: a kingdom crossing oceans
British Museum, London
15 January-25 May 2026
|http://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/hawaii-kingdom-crossing-oceans

Brick Wonders
Fort George, near Ardersier, Inverness
Until 20 February 2026
http://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/fort-george