HERITAGE SITE
Manchester Museum reopens
Manchester Museum
18 February 2023
www.museum.manchester.ac.uk
Manchester Museum reopens this February following an ambitious £15 million transformation, including the building of a new two-storey extension and the creation of the South Asia Gallery and Exhibition Hall, as well as a new entrance, shop, café, and other accessible visitor facilities. The opening will be marked by the UK debut of the museum’s first international touring exhibition, Golden Mummies of Egypt, which explores beliefs surrounding life after death in ancient Egypt during the Graeco-Roman period. Entry to the museum and the Golden Mummies of Egypt exhibition is free, but booking is recommended.
ACTIVITY
DigVentures Archaeology Projects
Multiple locations
Summer 2023
https://digventures.com/calendar
DigVentures runs crowdfunded digs at world-class sites across the UK. Excavations this year include a medieval site in Shropshire, a prehistoric coastal fort in Pembrokeshire, a Romano-British settlement in East Yorkshire, a lost Tudor garden at Sudeley Castle, the famous monastery at Lindisfarne, and a new dig at a megalithic site overseas, to be announced in February. DigVentures also offers ‘DigCamp’ days for children aged 6-12 and ‘DigClub’ for ages 12-16. Places fill up quickly, so book your spot now if you would like to take part in any of these excavations. See the DigVentures website for prices and dates.
CONFERENCE
Reimagining Lincolnshire
Welton Village Hall, Lincolnshire
4 February 2023
www.slha.org.uk/events/index.php#February2023
The Society for Lincolnshire History & Archaeology and the Reimagining Lincolnshire Project, in conjunction with the University of Lincoln, present a joint full-day conference exploring Lincolnshire’s connectedness to the wider world over two millennia: how rivers and the sea have facilitated arrivals, invasions, and departures; and how the people of the region have influenced, and been influenced by, unfolding historical events worldwide. The total cost of the conference, including lunch and refreshments, is £25. Download the booking form on the SLHA website or book a place online through Eventbrite (www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reimagining-lincolnshire-tickets-463575696387).
LECTURE
Sacrifice, Scrap or Something Else? Practices of metalwork deposition in Late Bronze Age Britain and Ireland
Online
23 February 2023
www.kilmartin.org/evening-talks
Dr Matthew Knight, from National Museums Scotland, presents an online lecture as part of Kilmartin Museum’s 2023 evening talks series. This one will explore the Late Bronze Age metal artefacts deposited in Argyll and Bute, examining the decisions made by local communities when depositing their objects, and setting them in the wider context of Bronze Age Britain and Ireland, in order to highlight regional variations in approaches to deposition across time and space. To attend this free event, please sign up using the online form on the website.
EXHIBITION
Ode to the Ancestors: Kenyan archaeology
Horniman Museum and Gardens, London
Until December 2023
www.horniman.ac.uk/project/ode-to-the-ancestors-kenyan-archaeology
This new exhibition – which recently opened at the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London, with a sister exhibition being held at Fort Jesus in Mombasa, Kenya – presents archival photographs from the 1920s to the present day in order to celebrate African heritage and commemorate the many African Kenyan archaeologists whose contributions to their own histories have been overlooked in the archaeological archives. The exhibition includes a small display of artefacts excavated at a site called Gamble’s Cave in 1931. Ode to the Ancestors is free to visit.
VIRTUAL VISITS
• National Portrait Gallery, UK
www.npg.org.uk/collections
While the National Portrait Gallery is currently closed to the public, its website offers a wide range of ways to engage with the collections and find out about research and conservation behind the scenes.
• Cost of Revolution, USA
www.amrevmuseum.org/virtualexhibits/cost-of-revolution
Learn about the life of 18th-century Irish soldier Richard Mansergh St George with this virtual adaptation of the Cost of Revolution exhibition, which ran at the Museum of the American Revolution in 2019-2020.
• Tomb of Tutankhamun, Egypt
https://giza.mused.org/en/guided/307/tomb-of-tutankhamun-kv-62-centennial-and-throne-at-the-harvard-museum-of-the-ancient-near-east
Take a virtual tour of the rooms of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings with this online resource from the Digital Giza project and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
• Hampi, India
https://artsandculture.google.com/story/PwVB2aUlJBbNLA
Explore the ruined temples, monuments, palaces, forts, and more of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hampi in southern India with this online exhibition from Google Arts & Culture.
EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
• Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022
www.digitscotland.com/category/scotlands-year-of-stories-2022
Delve into stories, myths, and legends inspired by Scottish history and archaeology with a selection of posts and resources on the DigIt! website, celebrating Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022.
• Historical Makes and Bakes
www.english-heritage.org.uk/members-area/kids/kids-rule-makes-and-bakes
Find out what people ate in the past and have a go at bringing to life the recipes eaten by prehistoric hunter-gatherers, occupants of a Roman villa, guests at a Victorian dinner party, and more.
• Lady Killers
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016pq3
Join Lucy Worsley and a team of experts as they investigate the crimes of women in Victorian Britain, North America, and beyond, and explore how these events were shaped by the world in which they occurred.
• Midweek Quiz
https://twitter.com/hashtag/MidweekQuiz
Put your knowledge about Stonehenge to the test with a weekly quiz question from the @EH_Stonehenge Twitter account every Wednesday.
FAMILY FUN
• 12 Labours of Hercules
www.english-heritage.org.uk/members-area/kids/kids-myths-legends/game-12-labours-of-hercules
Download, create, and play this board game from English Heritage. Travel back in time to ancient Greece to try your hand at a series of challenges like those faced by the legendary hero Hercules.
• Wikitrivia
https://wikitrivia.tomjwatson.com
Test your knowledge of historical dates, events, figures, and more with this online game, which requires players to place Wikipedia pages on a timeline in the correct chronological order.
• The Latest Secrets of Hieroglyphs
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001f72n
Find out how recent research into the written language of the ancient Egyptians has shed new light on the lives and beliefs of the authors and craftspeople who created these hieroglyphic works.
• The People’s Piazza: a history of Covent Garden
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0d4s5dm
Explore the history of London through the story of Covent Garden Piazza, as David Olusoga, helped by experts and eye-witnesses, brings to life the rich past of this location at the heart of the city.
• Detectorists
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06l51nr
The BBC comedy show Detectorists returns for the first time in five years with an extended Christmas special, in which Andy and Lance must save the Danebury Metal Detecting Club from losing its home.
