As part of the recent ‘Festival of Archaeology’ events, on Saturday (29th July) Cotswold Archaeology attended ‘Bristol’s Brilliant Archaeology’ day held by Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery at the Blaise Castle Estate in Bristol, where thankfully the weather held off and a brilliant day really was had by all.
Cotswold Archaeology took over the Victorian Classroom (complete with canes!!) with displays and finds from recent excavations at Ding’s Crusaders in Lockleaze, and Glassfields in Bristol city centre. The finds from Dings, including jewellery, coins, worked bone hairpins and a cosmetic spoon proved very popular and lots of interested locals were able to find out more about the site.
The history of the Glassfields site as a Whisky Distillery also sparked interest from many Bristolians, who were amused to find out that the whisky they had once produced was ‘bland’, ‘highly suspect’ and contained added methylated spirits!!
In keeping with the Roman finds on display, children were able to turn their hand to making their own Roman brooches, complete with gemstones. Several different brooches were available and CA’s ‘Dannicus’ logo was a popular choice. CA staff helped with the creation of over 120 very colourful brooches, and even managed to find the time to adorn themselves.
Jessica Cook
