Places to Visit

Archaeology Sites (UK) - Experimental Archaeology Sites (UK) - Archaeology Museums (UK) - Archaeology Sites (worldwide) - Experimental Archaeology Sites (worldwide) - Archaeology Museums (worldwide)

My favourite Archaeology Sites (UK)

CRESWELL CRAGS - Worksop, Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire

Creswell Crags is a limestone gorge containing numerous caves and fissures. In 2003 archaeologits discovered of Britain's only known Ice Age cave art. The subject matter of the art includes representations of over 90 animals including bison, horses, deer, bears and birds.

GOUGH'S CAVE - Cheddar Gorge, Somerset

The world famous Gough's Cave at Cheddar Gorge is the home of Cheddar Man; Britain's oldest complete skeleton buried there 9,000 years ago, following what is thought to be a violent death.

AVEBURY STONE CIRCLE- Wiltsure

Avebury contains a large henge (diameter of about 420m) and several rings of standing stone. Avebury's present appearance owes much to Alexander Keiller who purchased the site in 1930's thanks to his family's marmalade fortune, then excavated and re-erected many stones.

STONEHENGE - Wiltsure

Probably the most famous ancient site in the UK, stonehenge seen today is the final of several stages, that was completed about 3500 years ago (the penultimate phase is contemporary with the Seahenge site in Norfolk).

GRIMES GRAVES - Norfolk

Grime's Graves is the only Neolithic flint mine open to visitors in UK, extending over 37 ha (96 acres) and consists of around 433 shafts dug into the natural chalk. The largest shafts are more than 14 m (40 feet) deep and 12 m in diameter at the surface. Each shaft and gallery was worked with tools of antler and bone.

FLAG FEN - Peterborough

Discovered by Francis Prior in 1982, Flag Fen is a 1km long wooden trackway that was built between 1350 and 950 BC. Many swords and personal items given as offerings to the watery fen have also been found.

FISHBOURNE - West Sussex

Fishbourne Roman Palace is a large palace was built in the 1st century AD, around 30 years after the Roman conquest of Britain. It was discovered by accident during the digging of a water main trench in 1960.

HADRIAN'S WALL

Contsruction of the wall started in 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian. It was the first of two walls built across the north of England. The wall was the most heavily fortified border in the Empire and was 80 Roman miles (73.5 statute miles or 117 kilometres) long.

SUTTON HOO - Suffolk

The excavation of the burial ship, a ceremonial helmet, shield and sword and several solid-gold artifacts at Sutton Hoo in 1939 was one of the most rare and exciting archaeological finds in Britain.

My favourite Archaeology Sites (Worldwide)

CATALHOYUK - Turkey

Çatalhöyük was first discovered in 1958 by James Mellaart and excavated between 1961 and 1965. Mellaart suggested that the village was occupied from between 7,000 and 5,500 BC.

DOUGGA - Tunisia

Dougga (the modern name for the ancient city of Thugga) is situated in the mountains of Tunisia in an area that was populated by the Numidians. The archaeological site covers an area of approximately 75 ha.

EL DJEM - Tunisia

El Djem is famous for its large 35,000 seater amphitheatre (only Rome's Colosseum with about 45,000 spectators and the ruined theatre of Capua are larger). The amphitheatre at El Djem was built by the Romans under proconsul Gordian.

TOMB OF THE KINGS - Cyprus

The Tombs of the Kings is a large necropolis (or city of the dead) about 2km north-west of Paphos. Although there was never any royalty buried at the site, it does reflect the wealth of the area in its heyday.

Experimental Archaeology Sites (UK)

ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY CENTRE- Cranborne, Dorset

The ATC began over 25 years ago as a school project and hostss activities and buildings that are based on archaeological evidence from the Neolithic, Iron Age (Celtic), Roman, Anglo Saxon and Viking eras.

BEDE'S WORLD - Jarrow, Tyne & Wear

Bede's World recreates the landscape in the years around 700 AD. This includes experimental recreated timber buildings based on structures excavated within Anglo-Saxon Northumbria and a farm, with animals and crops as close as possible to those of the 7th and 8th centuries.

BUSTER ANCIENT FARM - Hampshire

Opened in 1974, Butser Ancient Farm consists of an Iron Age enclosure (which contains four roundhouses, structures, animals and crops of the period) and the only reconstructed Roman Villa in Britain

CASTELL HENLLYS IRON AGE FORT - Pembrokeshire

A Scheduled Ancient Monument nestling between the coast and the Preseli Hills, Castell Henllys is one of many prehistoric promontory forts in the National Park dating to around 600BC

CELTIC HARMONY CAMP- Brickendon, Hertfordshire

At the Celtic Harmony Camp visitors can experience how the people of the Celtic Iron Age, who lived over 2000 years ago.

ICENI VILLAGE NATURE RESERVE & MUSEUM - Cockley Cley, Norfolk

WEST STOW - Suffolk

The early Anglo-Saxon village has been carefully reconstructed where following a major archaeological dig from 1965-1972 headed by Dr. Stanley West of West Suffolk Archaeology Unit.

Experimental Archaeology Sites (Worldwide)

ARCHEON - Alphen aan den Rijn (Netherlands))

The park contains 43 reconstructions (gates, bridges, inn, cabins, temples, monasteries, farms and guild houses) covering Prehistoric, Roman and Middle Ages periods. 

ÖTZI DORF - Umhausen (Austria)

Ötzi Dorf is open-air archaeological park, showing visitors the way of life in the Neolithic period. The Ötztal Association of prehistoric buildings was built in collaboration with the University of Innsbruck (Institute of Archaeology Univ. Dr. Walter Leitner)

PFAHLBAU LAKE DWELLING MUSEUM - Bodensee (Germany)

Constructed between 1922 - 2007, the museum contains eight pile-dwellings from the Stone and Bronze Age (4.000 to 850 BC) at the northern edge of Lake Constance.

PREHISTO PARC - Tursac, Dordogne (France)

Préhisto-parc is an UNESCO World Heritage site, is an amazing voyage through 100,000 years. The 5-hectare park was designed with the help of J-L Heim, Professor at the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle and the Institut de Paléontologie Humaine.

SAMARA PREHISTORIC PARK - Amiens (France)

Samara Prehistoric Park occupies 30 hectares which lie between a Roman military camp and the river Somme. The park has four prehistoric periods: Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age, and within each of these is a reconstruction of dwellings of that period.

STIFTUNG NEANDERTHAL MUSEUM - Mettmann (Germany)

The Neanderthal Museum opened its doors to the public on the 10th of October 1996. About 170.000 visitors per year come to see the award-winning multi-media exhibition over five floors following a spiral ramp walkway through interactive exhibitions, models, diagrams and artefacts.

My favourite Archaeology Museums (UK)

CAMBRIDGE ANTHROPOLOGY & ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM - Cambridge

The Archaeology Department is on the ground floor and holds material from many internationally well-known sites. The British material includes important Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Bronze Age, Roman and Saxon collections.

MUSEUM OF LONDON - London

The Museum of London begins with an interactive display showing how London and the world changed between 450,000 BC and 50 AD. The first case in the archaeology section shows lithics from sites such as Swanscombe.

OXFORD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY - Oxford

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History houses the University's scientific collections of zoological, entomological and geological specimens. The Museum itself is a Grade 1 listed building, renowned for its spectacular neo-Gothic architecture

ROYSTON & DISTRICT MUSEUM - Royston

The museum collection was first put together in 1856 and the contents were displayed in one room in the now Town Hall, but in 1901 the museum was closed. In 1976, the Royston and District Local History Society re-opened the museum in the Town Hall, where it stayed until moving to the present building.

My favourite Archaeology Museums (Worldwide)

SOUTH TYROL MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY - Bolzano (Italy)

The museum is the home of 5000 year old Ötzi the Iceman, found in 1991 on the Ötztal Alps.

Key:

 

Palaeolithic
Mesolithic
Neolithic
Bronze Age
Iron Age
Roman
Early Medieval
= Burial / Cemetery
= Defence / Military
= Domestic / Settlement
= Industrial
= Ritual / Ceremonial

 

 


Other UK Sites:

 


For idea's on other places to visit:

 


 

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