Finds Identification Day
Have you found anything interesting when out walking, digging the garden or metal detecting - perhaps metal artefacts, pieces of pottery or coins?
If so, Winchester City Council's Museums Service is hosting a free Finds Identification Day at the Historic Resources Centre, 75 Hyde Street, Winchester, between 10.00am and 4.00pm on Saturday 8 May.
The Museum Service is interested in recording archaeological finds to help build up a picture of what life was like in the past in Hampshire.
Jodi McCrohan, the Hampshire Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officer, and colleagues from the museum service will be on hand to look at your finds and try and identify them.
Visitors to the Historic Resources Centre on Saturday 8 May will also have the opportunity to view the latest exhibition open specially for the day – Dr Lyford’s Heads – a collection of death masks taken from some notorious 19th century criminals. There are also activities and puzzles for children.
About the Portable Antiquities Scheme
Each year members of the public discover many thousands of archaeological objects, or portable antiquities. Metal detector users find most, although many are also discovered by people engaged in daily activities such as gardening or walking. The objects include metal artefacts and non-metal items such as pottery.
Portable antiquities are an invaluable resource, and reveal important information about the past. The national Portable Antiquities Scheme provides a system for the voluntary recording of these objects to ensure that information is not lost.
Since its introduction in Hampshire much important archaeological material has been recorded, providing fascinating new insights into the region's past.
The aims of the Portable Antiquities Scheme are -
- To provide a scheme for the recording of portable antiquities
- To encourage all those who find archaeological objects to make them available for recording
- To advance the knowledge of the history and archaeology of England and Wales
- To raise public awareness of the educational potential of archaeological finds in their context
- To increase opportunities for public involvement in archaeology
- To strengthen links between metal-detector users and archaeologists