A brand-new exhibition about the excavation of the Roman town at Silchester has opened at the Willis Museum, Basingstoke.
It features artwork from the excavations by Reading artist Jenny Halstead, including images of some of the artefacts found, as well as pictures of day to day life during the dig.
The parish of Silchester is the location of a large Roman town - Calleva Atrebatum. The Roman town, which was founded in the first century AD (nearly 2000 years ago), was built on the site of an Iron Age town, Calleva. The Roman amphitheatre and town walls are some of the best preserved in Britain.
Between 1997 and 2014, the University of Reading's Department of Archaeology, led by Professor Michael Fulford and Amanda Clarke, investigated one block or 'insula' of the Roman town to find out more about town life from its origins in the late Iron Age to the time it was abandoned.
Among the artefacts that have been discovered are coins, some dating back to AD 68 and earlier, a terracotta tile showing the impressions of a Roman sandal and an animal’s paw and skeleton of a dog. All of these findings are featured in Jenny Halstead’s exhibition at the Willis Museum.
Jenny said: “It was a very exciting project being Artist in Residence at the excavation last summer, in its 18th and final year. I sketched the setting up of the site -everything has to be brought in from cabins and generators, to equipment and tools. During the six weeks of the dig there was a campsite and food for up to 150 staff, students and volunteers. Then the back fill and this part of the town is buried once again.”
The exhibition at the Willis Museum is now open and runs until August 29. Entry is free.
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