York Museums Trust Blog

As part of my retrospective documentation work I came across this exquisitely preserved fossil brittle star.

It is from the Middle Jurassic 195 – 189 million years old.

Although it does not have a locality the preservation and matrix indicate that it comes from Dorset.

Info. by – Stuart

YORYM : 2007.4563

Well, that was one of the most bizarre (but most fun) afternoons I have ever had! Today families were given the chance to try and protect two eggs – one was to be launched in a rocket, the other was to be thrown off the roof of the musem. And, of course, the aim of the game was to see if your eggs had survived.

For me the fun was to be had because I was one of the lucky members of staff who was able to go up to the roof of the Yorkshire Museum and throw eggs off it. It was really odd to be up there for the first time (it’s a little difficult to get to, and of course only employees with good reason to are allowed on the roof), to look down on people, and to be flinging away carefully prepared eggs. We had to throw the eggs far enough for them to stay away from the edge of the building and land on a target, but at the same time hope that a child wouldn’t be really disappointed if their egg hit too hard. One egg hadn’t been so well secured in a polystyrene cup and came flying out of it about half way down, smashing right into the middle of the target. The parachute gently followed it and came fluttering down all by itself… 

 We’re doing it all again tomorrow. I’m sure I can find the time to have fun throwing eggs off the roof  help out my colleagues with an important activity!

click for a better view

This is a domino-sized piece of soapstone engraved in reverse with the words “Julius Alexander’s salve for irritations”.

It is one of only 60 such stamps world-wide. Cosmetic branding was as important to the Romans as it is to us today. This stamp ensured that people knew they were getting ‘ the real McCoy ‘ and not some forgery.

It was found on the Mount by the Dickinsons – a farmer and his nephew who worked land on which the Mount School now stands. They worked very closely with local archaeologist Peter Wenham in collecting and plotting Roman objects from their land.

Their collection of artefacts now forms part of the archaeological collections at the Yorkshire Museum.

Information by – Andrew Morrison

YORYM 2006.2878

This late Viking style sword has just been given to the Yorkshire Museum. It was found in the River Ouse at Cawood is one of the most significant swords ever found in North Yorkshire. Its design is a mixture of late Anglo-Scandinavian (Viking) and early medieval features and this gives it an exciting and interesting place in the development of sword design.

On either side of the blade there is an inscription made up of capital letters. They most likely represent initial letters of a number of Latin words that would make up a saying of some importance to the owner.

The sword was allocated to the Yorkshire Museum through the Government’s ‘Acceptance in Lieu’ programme whereby items considered to be national treasures are gifted to museums to offset some inheritance tax that would otherwise be due from the owner. This is the first such allocation that has ever been made to the Yorkshire Museum.

Described in the big book of swords as of “outstanding importance”. It is probably made by the same hand or ‘workshop’ as a near identical sword in the Oslo Museum which is dated to A.D. 1100.

We will be working with the Cawood Castle Garth local history group to discover more about the sword and its discovery.

Info. by – Andrew Morrison

YORYM : 2007.3086

I saw that they moved some rocks onto the grass field in front of the museum today. I suppose they were bits and pieces of the abbey or the hospitium. Our own little Stonehenge, out there now. Wonder how Olivier in his vest will cut the grass around those, if indeed he cuts grass? Outside the gardens got a bit of a face lift, inside we sat, with our cups of tea discussing christmas wish lists, songs and decorations. We had a very exciting moment when some of the decorations on our tree fell off, which was further induced as we realized this had happened before – found a ball under the tree. I also discovered some gifts there, however they were sadly empty boxes with wrapping paper, oh the tragedy! If Christmas hasn’t come early then the dinner will on Wednesday, with yummy yummy food. And lovely punch. The good kind.

Well, two Young Archaeologists choose some lovely objects to display, at least.

Some of you may remember my earlier post mentioning that the winners of the Young Archaeologist of the Year  Award were coming to the museum.  James and Jocelyn, and their families, had a great time exploring the stores. They examined, and handled, all sorts of artefacts including Roman glass, medieval pottery, prehistoric axes and Viking antler.  As part of their prize the two winners picked some interesting objects to go on display, including a sword, stone tools and some gold.

Nicky Milstead, who helps run the Young Archaeologists’ Club, popped over to the museum today to help us put it all together. The objects Jocelyn and James chose make a really fun case full. I’m hoping we’ll leave the display in for a few weeks to allow other budding archaeologists to see what James’ and Jocelyn’s favourites were. Who knows, maybe they will be putting museum displays together in a few years time?

I went down to the Yorkshire Museum today and was in for a big surprise!

All these fantastic demonstrations were by modern day professionals who used their specialist knowledge, together with information from the Museum, to try to recreate lost skills.

A link to more info on the: Community Archaeology Project.

If there was a squirrel Olympics in Beijing next year, I am sure the Museum Gardens could send a winning team. Every day I can sit at my desk and watch at least one of these supreme athletes running up and down the rooftops outside our office in the Yorkshire Museum. Why are they doing it? There are no stores of acorns hidden away beneath the slate roof tiles or even bars of nutty chocolate in the guttering, but they always seem intent on completing some kind of vital, urgent task.

No chance of childhood squirrel obesity with the level of exercise they maintain – although maybe they are pushing the boundaries of fat intake on the footpaths of the gardens. There they boldly approach people walking through the gardens for any scrap of food they can spare. Despite the fact many refer to them as ‘tree rats’, the squirrels get away with this behaviour because they are so cute, rubbing their little hands together pleadingly and waggling their bushy tails, before scampering off for a good scoff.

Some people even get their camera out to capture the moment on film. It’s as if they think they have had a David Attenborough experience and want to keep a memento of the day they saw such a rare species. The irony is, of course, that the grey squirrel is a very common creature in this country, having largely elbowed out its rarer cousin, the native red squirrel. I remember getting as excited as our garden visitors when I saw one in the Lake District, but scared it off with the noise of opening my camera case.

The curators here have just finished a new exhibition called Aliens, about non-native animals that have made their home in the UK, and it gives the low-down on grey squirrels. But to see the real thing, you don’t have to go far outside to enjoy the sight of non-stop squirrel activity in the Museum Gardens. 

Following a nation-wide competition, we’re going to be receiving some special visitors the weekend after next - the winners of the Young Archaeologist of the Year Award, which is run by the Young Archaeologist’s Club. The winners are going to come for a VIP visit to the Yorkshire Museum stores, and will be able to see and handle all sorts of objects which aren’t usually on display. I’m really looking forward to it because we are going to ask them to pick a few objects each, which will go on display in the museum foyer. I can’t wait to see what they choose!

Naked women, autopsies, Dick Turpin and strange stone heads – quite a random selection of words really. In fact if you got those words in a pub quiz and had to find the common link it could take you a while to come up with an answer, although a pint or two may speed up the process. However I can pretty much guess that York Museums Trust would not be the first thing most people would think of. The reality is all these things have been filmed at one of our venues in the last month or so. Film crews seem to like the place. The above are just some of the more bizarre, but they are all true. 
How to Look Good Naked took over the Castle Museum, causing a few eyebrows to be raised as the underwear fell. The History Channel carried out a fake autopsy in The Lab, using big knives and animal innards to show how a young Egyptian girl died before she was mummified. Channel Five came to the Castle’s cells while filming a Dick Turpin documentary and the BBC came to speak to Andrew Morrison, curator of archaeology, about mysterious stone heads which were appearing and then disappearing in the wilds of rural Yorkshire. Poor folk in places like Bishop Wilton, Goathland and Kilburn were apparently scared to death by the strange rocks which were placed under the cover of darkness.
The film crews, like the rocks, also appear, cause a stir and then vanish into the night. Some come with space age technology, others have a camcorder. Some forget their camcorder. Most have at least one member of staff who wears thick rimmed glasses and has a clipboard.
The Trust’s benefits a lot from the crews and their cameras. There is the obvious financial benefits and then there is that all important mention. Of course any show that has millions of viewers is brilliant publicity.
I just hope that visitors to the Castle Museum don’t expect to see quite so much as they do the next time its on the telly.