12/05/2011

BRLSI on the BBC:

For an interview with me about the JESBI project on BBC Somerset's drivetime radio show go here (about 10 minutes into the show, available until the 18th of May).

For a web report on the same subject go here.

16/03/2011

An interesting recent task has been to begin object selection for our summer exhibition about ceramics. Here are a few choice objects to whet your appetite:

above-left; Roman vessel from Münstermayfeld, Germany

above-right; Stirrup-spout pot in form of an owl from the Moche cultutre, Peru (100-700 AD)

below; A decorative Chinese roof tile in Imperial Yellow glaze, reserved for the Emperors buildings, taken from the Forbidden City in the 19th Century.

14/12/2010

Happy Christmas from the BRLSI Collections!

This is a museum specimen: it may not look too inspiring but it smells wonderful!
It was originally catalogued as part of the mineral collection; 'Amber, box of bits with remnant soft resin and bark'. The primary clue to its misidentification is its strong aroma. On first sight I suspected its true identity and the distinctive scent proved me correct.

Frankincense is an aromatic the resin , gathered by damaging the bark of trees of the genus Boswellia, and particularly that of Boswellia sacra. This was one of the gifts presented to the infant Jesus by the Magi in the Biblical Book of Matthew.

There is an interesting recent article regarding the use of frankincense on the BBC's website here (n.b. external link).

03/12/2010

The JESBI project continues with the preparation of a wonderful ichthyosaur skull, here we see the sclerotic ring of the eye of this magnificent marine predator emerging:

03/11/2010

Coming up in the next few weeks:

I'll be returning a collection of stone artefacts from Bath Abbey Heritage Vaults, housed there since the 1960's and belonging to the BRLSI. Sadly Bath Abbey Heritage Vaults is now closed to the public... I will post photographs of the best items very soon.

As part of the JESBI project, working with Remmert Schouten (Manager of the Palaeontological Laboratory, University of Bristol), I am taking a selection of Jurassic fossils to be scanned using Micro CT technology at the University of Southampton. The data will be used for brand new research by MSc students studying palaeobiology at University of Bristol.

On November 17th at 19:30, SH Reynolds Lecture Theatre, Wills Building, University of Bristol, I will give a talk about our Palaeontological Collection and the JESBI project to the Geological section of Bristol Naturalists' Society.

15/09/2010

What is this mysterious object?

Find out here!

12/08/2010

With our summer exhibition "Life in Roman Britain" now showing I have time to update some of the Online Museum pages. This morning I made a visit to Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery with two tasks in mind. The first was to visit the JESBI projects palaeontological preparator to collect some of the fossils she has been working on, the first of which I have now added to the JESBI projects Before and After pages. The second reason for my vist was to photograph some of the items on loan to Bristol City Museum from the BRLSI's collection. A number of the artefacts on display in the Egyptology gallery there belong to the BRLSI and it is well worth a visit, you can see two of our artefacts below:

08/06/2010

The JESBI project now has a palaeontological preaparator, read more here.

03/06/2010

We have been accessioning (officially entering objects into the museum collection by assigning a unique reference number to each) and cataloguing an assorted collection of archaeological pottery, much of it is in remarkable condition and of considerable antiquity.

During the decades in the 20th century that our collection was neglected many of these artefacts were separated from their original labels and so it is requires real detective work to find out where they come from and what they are. Fortunately many have old catalogue numbers, donors names or other clues attached to them. Rob Randall, chairman of the BRLSI's collections sub-committee and dedicated volunteer, has digitised many of the 19th century and early 20th century catalogues and donations lists that we hold in our archives. This means that he and I are able to cross reference any clue with relative ease and to rediscover the history of many of these remarkable artefacts.

Sometimes more detailed research is needed though, and through the remarkable resource of the internet the origins of some unusual items can be discovered. An example is this months image of the month, we guessed that it might be a Pilgrim Flask for keeping Holy water or oil as a relic. From there we discovered its age and probable origin from a site of pilgrimage known as Abu Mena, at which St. Menas is said to be buried and at which Constantine ordered a Church built in the 4th Century.

30/04/2010

I have just updated the JESBI project pages. Find out more about this exciting project to conserve, prepare, and research some exquisitely preserved fossils for the first time in 150 years by following the link to www.brlsi.org/jesbi. I will add regular news about the project as it happens.

29/04/2010

The BRLSI's new exhibition Caveman to Celt: The Unwritten History of the British Isles is now open (Monday to Saturday, 10 'til 4, free admission). Come and see it at the BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Sqaure, Bath, until June 21st 2010.

14/04/2010

We're in the final stages of preparing an exhibition entitled Caveman to Celt: The Unwritten History of the British Isles. I've learnt a huge amount putting this exhibition together and am greatly indebted to our hard working volunteers, particularly Rob Randal, Jude Harris, and Rod Thomas, for their tireless work in researching and writting the story we will tell. The exhibition opens on Saturday 24th April and will be open from Monday to Saturday 10 'til 4 for two months, admission is free.

16/03/2010

A SNAPSHOT OF WORK IN PROGRESS: As we are based in a Bath basement, occasionally our store rooms suffer from a little rising damp. Museum collections and rising damp are not happy bedfellows and so, from time to time we have a room damp-proofed.

One of our smaller stores has recently been improved in this way and we are now ready to restore the contents; these include over 1000 Mesolithic and Neolithic flint implements, ceramics from Archaeological ceramics South America, Archaeological Roman ceramics from the local region, and wooden ceremonial paddles and clubs from the South Seas islands.

01/03/2010

This year has been both busy and exciting in the BRLSI collections. We have been meeting weekly to put together material for our Caveman to Celt exhibition and our researches have revealed that our collection of Palaeolithic to Bronze age stone tools holds some rare treasures (more about that in April's Newsletter)! We have also been working with the BRLSI web-master on the release of a new fossil gallery, along with a redesign of our other online museum pages.

This online museum will go live on March 25th alongside the launch of the JESBI project, more details of that event by following this link (just click on the image to enlarge it) or you can read about it in our newsletter. The project has a logo (see the image of the month), adapted from a reconstruction of the fauna by John Sibbick, and we will soon launch a web page where progress will be reported as it happens.

Read old news articles here