Unlike the pies however, the book we were discussing was not to everyone’s taste. Pompeii by Robert Harris is a blockbuster of a novel, which at times feels more like a disaster movie than a book.

Each chapter was dated and began with a brief, scientific description of the progress of the volcano which we all felt worked well and helped to crank up the tension.  The main characters however were not hugely convincing, and the love story, which held the narrative together, seemed highly unlikely. 

We could not fault Harris’s research, which appeared extremely thorough, and the setting he created was impressive. We could see parallels between the political and financial intrigues in the book and recent political and economic events, but we did not agree with those critics who had suggested that this was Harris’s post 9/11 novel.

 If anything, it seemed more of an indictment of current policies on carbon reduction, highlighting man’s insignificance, and his egocentric view of the world; convinced that he can control the power of Nature.

Of course, we all knew where the story was going, so the author had set himself a difficult task, but everyone felt the ending was quite abrupt and some, the postscript a little saccharine.

So a mixed reception for Pompeii the novel, although clearly this was an event in history which intrigued us all.

Tempest Anderson in Colima, Mexico circa 1900. He is sitting next to a volcanic rock known as a 'breadcrust bomb'.

We went on to look at the photographs of Tempest Anderson. Anderson was born in York in 1846. He trained as a doctor but was a keen traveller, amateur photographer and volcanologist. He documented active volcanoes across the globe and took part in a Royal Society expedition to the Caribbean in 1902 to record the aftermath of volcanic eruptions on St Vincent and Martinique. 

The Martinique disaster had a number of similarities with Harris’s Pompeii. When Mount Pelee erupted on the morning of 8 May 1902, almost the entire population of St Pierre perished.

Despite increased volcanic activity in the weeks leading up to the disaster, local politicians, keen to maximise the turn out to an election on 11 May, had encouraged people to stay in the town. They had promoted its safety so effectively that people in surrounding villages had arrived, swelling the population to around 28,000. Only 2 people survived.

The YMT book club is led by Vicky Hoyle. Each month we also look at relevant objects from the YMT collections.  Every session is free and all are welcome; we just ask that you phone in advance on 01904 650333 to book a place.

The next book is How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall. We will be meeting at York Art Gallery this Saturday, 14 January, at 3pm.

The Tansy beetle

We’re really excited to be working with the Tansy Beetle Action Group (TBAG) to help protect and understand this iconic York species.

The Tansy beetle is a bright green, flightless leaf beetle. It’s named after the Tansy plant that it eats and lays its eggs on. It used to be more widespread across the UK, but is now only known along the banks of the River Ouse near York. The species is endangered worldwide.

TBAG work to protect the Tansy beetle and research what it needs to survive. One thing they have learned so far is that the beetles can’t find new clumps of Tansy if these are more than 200m away. If the Tansy clump a population of beetles lives on is destroyed or flooded and there isn’t another one close by the population can be wiped out.

The Tansy plant

To prepare for our beetle colony we have planted Tansy and other plants, including Water mint and Sneezewort, in three 2m² square beds.

We’re hoping to introduce the beetle next Spring. This will extend its range and give our visitors an opportunity to see and help protect it.

We’ll be working with volunteers to maintain and monitor the Tansy beds. If you would like to help, please contact Fiona Burton, our Volunteers Manager, at fiona.burton@ymt.org.uk

Our gardeners preparing the Tansy beds...

12th Century statues from St Mary's Abbey

The exhibition entitled 1212: The Making of the City will commemorate the 800-year anniversary of York’s independence from the Crown revealing the stories of medieval York and its people as it rose to power.

The objects on display will be at the heart of the exhibition, brought to life through colour, sound and film and (here comes my contribution) accurate interpretive text. In the coming months before the exhibition launches on 7 April 2012 I will be studying in great depth the artefacts that are central to the heritage of medieval York.

Although this will require sifting through documents to find out the origin, date and function of an object where possible, I also intend to get up close to the objects themselves. Research that incorporates first-hand observation adds an important dimension to the understanding of an artefact; the material qualities and the skill of the craftsman, for example, can be better appreciated.

Artefacts that are likely to receive my technical and aesthetic scrutiny during this project will include the famous 12th century column-figures of St Mary’s Abbey and the tantalisingly fragmentary remains of the medieval shrines of St William originally in York Minster, amongst many more.

Who commissioned this piece? What was the political and cultural context at the time? What was it used for? Was it purely aesthetic? Where was it originally and how did it relate to its surroundings? These are the types of questions that I will be asking.

The exhibition will raise huge topics of interest regarding politics, power, religion and civic life and by researching key pieces I hope to contextualise the objects to uncover their purpose and significance in medieval York. As an art historian, I am excited to be part of this project and will enjoy discovering the treasures of the Yorkshire Museum’s medieval collection as research gets underway.

Gaining independence from the Crown meant that York could regulate its own affairs, collect its own taxes and even appoint a mayor.  This paved the way for the success that was to flourish here over the following centuries.  In effect; it was the making of the city.

To commemorate the 800-year anniversary of York’s independence, we are planning a new exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum, set to open in Easter next year, called 1212: The Making of the City.

Set amongst the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey, our medieval gallery is perfectly placed to tell the story of medieval York and celebrate the people, places and events that have contributed to the city’s medieval heritage.

A painting of St William's Chapel on Ouse Bridge in York from York Art Gallery

The Yorkshire Museum’s medieval collections will still take centre stage, with the York Helmet, Middleham Jewel, Sapphire Ring and St William’s Shrine all given pride of place.

Original manuscripts and a fantastic array of paintings and works on paper from York Art Gallery will add real richness to the stories we will be telling. 

By flooding the exhibition with colour, sound and film, we hope to capture the vibrancy of the medieval city and celebrate the imagination, creativity and skill of its people.

Exploring the development and performance of York’s Mystery Plays will really help to bring the city’s medieval heritage back to life, and will complement the return of the York Cycle to the city.

These iconic medieval plays will be performed throughout August 2012 in front of the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey, just outside the museum, and, along with our exhibition, are being mounted as part of the City of York Council’s York 800 celebrations.

So it’s all building up to look like another exciting year for the Yorkshire Museum and Museum Gardens, and as project leader for the exhibition, I’m really excited to be part of it.  We hope we can create something really striking and exciting for first-time visitors to the museum as well as providing fresh interest for our ‘regulars’.

More details will be revealed over the coming weeks and months as we finalise what will be going on show so watch this space for more exciting news.

In the meantime you can visit the York Mystery Plays 2012 website for more information on the performances, including booking details for tickets and advice on how to get involved.

Ben Turner, collections technician for York Museums Trust, explains more here:

If you’re a regular visitor to the gardens, you may have already noticed two lines of sarcophagi (or large stone coffins) appearing close to the medieval ruins of St Mary’s Abbey.

We’re just putting the final touches to some signs and labels explaining more about them after completing our research into their history.

It’s been some months since we first found three of them when we were clearing out one of the old museum stores.

Myself and Adam Parker were taken on back in December to undertake this work. Both of us have an archaeological background so it was fascinating to be able to look more closely at the Roman inscriptions on these huge stone objects.

Of the three we found there, two were originally found during excavations at the Castle Yard, in front of York Castle Museum, the other we’re not sure about.

We then moved several other sarcophagi to join them, which had previously been sited in the St Leonard’s Hospital ruins,  between the Museum Street gates and York Explore (the Central Library).

The word sarcophagus comes from the Greek , meaning "flesh-eating"

We have arranged them in two rows to represent the way the Romans arranged their sarcophagi, usually with a path running down the centre. Typically the Romans preferred to cremate their dead, but during the third century, burying the dead in sarcophagi like these became more fashionable.

They were usually made of stone, wood or even tile. Bodies were washed, anointed in oils and dressed formally for the funeral. Offerings of food and wine were often left beside the grave.

We hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we have enjoyed researching them. It’s certainly been interesting for me to see the museum-side of archaeology compared with the field archaeology I’d been involved with before.

This sarcophagus is highly carved and its inscription tells us it originally belonged to Julia Victorina and her four-year-old son, Constantius, and was commissioned by her husband, a veteran centurion called Septimius Lupianus.

This inscription on this sarcophagus tells us it was made for a woman called Aelia Severa, but when it was found in 1859 in York the remains of a man were found inside. The lid that was used was the tombstone of Flavia Augustina, which can now be seen on display inside the Yorkshire Museum.

This small one belonged to a child. Even though it is quite plain, the burial of a child in a stone sarcophagus signified he or she came from a wealthy family.

Ben Turner looks at one of the sarcophagi in the Museum Gardens

Emma Bernard, who was Acting Assistant Curator of Biology, found this amazing sawfish snout in one of our stores. It is part of the Yorkshire Museum Natural History Collection.

Emma Bernard holding the sawfish snout

Sawfish snout – Yorkshire Museum
Discovered lurking in a dark corner of Marygate, a strange looking object was found…
This object which resembles a chainsaw actually belongs to a sawfish, which are tropical rays related to sharks. A critically endangered group, they can be found in tropical and sub tropical waters in the Atlantic and around Australia. Sawfish can grow to large sizes, specimens up to 20 feet in length are quite common with ‘saws’ up to 6 feet in length.
Sawfish have a long flat body with a prominent flat blade at the front of the animal which is armed with strong tooth-like structures. These enlarged teeth are firmly implanted in sockets in the cartilage of the snout (rostrum).

Electroreceptors are contained within the snout which detects heartbeats of prey buried within the sediment such as prawns and other invertebrates. Sawfish use their snout for digging out buried prey and as it is motion sensitive, they can detect and slash at prey swimming past. A truly fascinating and impressive creature.

All those groups of tits that you have seen during the winter months will have split up.

In the Museum Gardens, pairs of Blue Tits and Great Tits are everywhere and if you keep your eyes peeled you may see a pair of Long-tailed Tits. They are one of the earliest birds to breed and create a fantastic domed, globular nest out of moss and leaves.

There are several Robins singing in the Museum Gardens and Dunnocks too. If you listen closely you may also be able to hear the wheezy rasp of a Greenfinch.

A pair of Sparrowhawks has also been seen indulging in a courtship flight. This picture of a Sparrowhawk grabbing its lunch in the Gardens was snapped by Alicia Stabler, one of our Garden Guides.

If you are walking in woodland you may hear the drumming of a Great-spotted Woodpecker. They do this rather than sing like other birds. 

If you do hear drumming pick up a piece of wood and try to emulate it by hammering it on a tree trunk in short rapid bursts. If you are lucky you could attract a territorial male that will think he has a rival to chase off.

Meanwhile, the first butterfly sightings of the year have already taken place in the Museum Gardens. A Brimstone has been spotted near our gardeners’ hut and I saw a Peacock flying out of the trees at the back of the Yorkshire Museum last week.

Spring is definitely on the way!

It has been fascinating to see this eight-metre long creature come ”back to life”, as the pieces of its fossilised skeleton have been carefully placed back together like a giant jigsaw.

Nigel Larkin at work with our ichthyosaur

The ichthyosaur was found in an alum quarry on the North Yorkshire coast in the mid 1800s and is about 180 million years old.

This huge specimen was donated to the Yorkshire Museum in 1857. For many years it was displayed on a wall in one of our galleries, but 20 years ago it was taken down due to concerns about its condition, with only its head left out on display. In 2009 we were awarded a substantial grant from the PRISM fund, matched by York Museums Trust, so that the ichthyosaur could be conserved and redisplayed in our new ‘Extinct’ galleries.

A different view showing the length of the ichthyosaur

I started in my post here in late 2009 and one of my first jobs was to examine all the pieces before they went off for conservation. At the time it was really difficult to imagine how the specimen was going to look as it had been covered in conservation-grade tissue paper before being taken off display. There was also a lot of general dust and grime from its many years on the wall, and other materials including plaster from the original Victorian mount.

It has been fantastic to see Nigel, a paeleontological conservator, reuniting the head with the body, beneath our other two marine reptiles, a pliosaur and a plesiosaur, which have been bandaged up for the week to protect them from damage!

This is one of the biggest ichthyosaurs ever found in Britain and we’re very pleased and proud to have it back on display at the Yorkshire Museum. Come along and see it for yourself to appreciate the sheer scale of this extinct Yorkshire giant!

Find more information on our giant ichthyosaur and Extinct – A Way of Life on the Yorkshire Museum website.

Michael Portillo comes face to face with the York Helmet

Staff were very excited to welcome Michael Portillo and his party of Art Fund Prize judges to the Yorkshire Museum on Friday.

We are one of ten museums and galleries across the country now competing for this prestigious £100,000 prize – the short list will be announced on May 20 once the judges have visited all ten.

We’ve been nominated for the £2million refurbishment of the museum which took place last year and the team which met the judges represented all the staff who pitched in to help – including our curators, education team, front-of-house and marketing staff, as well as managers, directors and trustees – and not forgetting the project’s building supremo, Geoff Hutchinson.

The judges were given a warm Yorkshire welcome, before watching a presentation about the refurbishment and then taking a guided tour around the new-look galleries.

Andrew Morrison, head curator and project leader, said he was pleased with the way the day had gone.

“They seemed to have a good time and their comments were all very positive. We were left with a feeling that we should be optimistic and we were pleased with the way we were able to present the project and the innovative way it was completed.”

Don’t forget you can help us by voting for us on the Art Fund Prize online poll. Many thanks to all those who have already done so!

The Art Fund Prize judges standing on our map of the Roman Empire. From left, Lars Tharp, Charlotte Higgins, Michael Portillo, Jeremy Dellar and Cathy Gee

Our team with the judges