Glamorgan (formerly Bridgend) Young Archaeologists Club

IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!

2011-11-25T04:01:00.001-08:00

Dear Member,

I would like to inform you that due to the decline in membership numbers and the increasing problems with the current facilities the Bridgend Young Archaeologists Club is closing down from 31st December 2011. As of 1st January 2012 we will be renamed as Glamorgan Young Archaeologists Club and based at Swansea Museum.

We feel this is a more appropriate base for the club and will give us better support and increase the resources available to us.

Our fist session will be on 14th January 2012 where current members will be able to see the new meeting place and we will be having a talk from Emma Williams who is the Collections and Access Officer at the museum. We will also be taking this opportunity to plan with your help the launch session scheduled for 18th February.

Also from the January session to cover costs we will be raising the subscription for each session to £3 per member. We feel this is a fair increase as we have not had to raise our prices since the club opened in 2004.

Below is the new club address:

Glamorgan Young Archaeologists Club
Swansea Museum
Victoria Road
Maritime Quarter
Swansea
SA1 1SN

Our email address is to remain the same until February which is:

Bridgendyac@yahoo.co.uk

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I hope you will continue to support the group in these exciting developments.

Yours Faithfully,

Sian Williams
Branch Leader
Bridgend Young Archaeologists Club

Aberdulais Falls - 10th September 2011

2011-09-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

Our session in September was at Aberdulais Falls. This is a National Trust property and looks at the tinplate industry.

On arriving we had a look around the site, saw what objects are made out of tin, from toys to food cans, and also had a look at the building remains of the tinplate works. We were lucky that the rain held off for us, but during the week it had been heavy so the Aberdulais Falls waterfall was in full flow for us. We could see the power of the water and the effect it had on the water wheel. Combining the power of the water wheel and the turbine the site was completely sustainable and produced its own power to run the site and also heat it in the winter.

We watched a short film describing what it was like to work in the tinplate works and also learnt that there were a lot of children working there instead of going to school.

The friends of Aberdulais falls were kind enough to give us a talk on the tinplate works and the excavation that went on there, we were able to view some of the photographs and drawings from the dig and also handle some of the objects.

Survey - Changing Times

2011-09-20T02:20:00.000-07:00

Please answer our survey about the Bridgend Young Archaeologists club here

Bridgend Yac Survey

Roman Sewers

2011-06-16T05:02:00.000-07:00

You might have thought we were joking when you were given fake poo to disect. Well, you never know when you might find the real thing! Which is what they found in the Roman sewers of Herculanium.
All of 750 sack-fulls of, umm, remains, which go a long way to telling us what they ate (mostly vegetables, apparently).

New Pyramids found - from Space!

2011-06-07T03:12:00.000-07:00

"Indiana Jones is Old School", they say. Taking photos from 700km above the earth is a great new way of finding previously undiscovered archaeology. While we can't promise to get you up into space, that's exactly what is happening over Egypt! 17 new Pyramids have been discovered, along with 1000s of tombs and settlements, using infra-reed photography to discover what lies hidden under the sand.

You can click here to read more!

2011-04-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

Some of our members might think going to school isn't very nice, but for children in south Wales in the 1840s, unless you were very lucky, chances are you went to work for 12 hours a day, and probably down the mines!

Bryn - Y- Wrach

2011-04-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

here is a blog to keep you up to date with the field work being carried out in Llangeinor.

Sunday April 10th 2011 was another beautiful day for those who came to Bryn y Wrach common to take part in the project. Gareth and Carl finished the topographical survey of the area around the mound, and extended it also to a second possible cairn which has been noticed a little to the northwest. Ian carried out the Magnetometry survey of the mound, and also of the possible cairn with the assistance of Lyn, Gwyn and Geraint. Paul and Jenny, along with everyone else, including Peter and Ceri, worked on clearing the layer of old dung which had been piled over the mound many years ago.

Read the full story >>>

The Eagle of the Ninth

2011-03-18T03:10:00.000-07:00

If you get YAC's Young Archaeologistmagazine, you'll know there's a movie released this month called 'The Eagle', based on the story of a search for the Eagle standard of the Ninth Legion, which was lost when they were supposedly wiped out somewhere North of York. The book is also being rereleased, and you can read a chapter of it here.

'The Eagle' is a story, because no-one really knows what happened to the Ninth Legion. But Archaeological research indicates the story might be nearer the truth than was first believed!

Food for thought

2011-02-09T06:41:00.000-08:00

We were back with a bump and an early start to the New Year. We now meet the second Saturday of the month. Our theme for this year is food. To start us off Richard took the session and explained how we could tell what early humans were eating. We found out that by looking at cave paintings and the bone remains that they had similar animals to us and would hunt them not only for their fur or skins but for their meat as well. We also learnt that by looking at human bones we can tell what type of diet they had, using isotope bone analysis. From pollen samples in certain conditions we can even tell what plants were around at the time. After our break we had a quiz on the topic covered and then had a go at our own cave paintings.

September field-walking

2011-01-30T04:05:00.001-08:00

September field-walking
Originally uploaded by Bridgend Young Archaeologists Club

Thanks to Richard, one of our leaders, we had the chance to do some real archaeology! We were invited to join in with a day's field-walking in the Vale of Glamorgan, in a field with Neolithic/Bronze age burial mounds, and a nearby 12th Century monastic grange.

We were very lucky with the weather, and had a dry, sunny day in which to explore the areas around the barrows. The field had recently had it's a bean crop harvested, so we quickly got used to ignoring the left-over beans as we walked or crawled across the furrows. Bits and pieces from almost every era turned up, from bits of modern farm tools, animals and fencing to Iron Age pottery and flint cores.

The Iron age pottery was actually found by Ammon, one of our members, after he decided his metal-detector wasn't really much use. What a find! You can see a photo of Ammon with his find (and several more) on the fieldwalking report on the GGAT website.

Christmas comes early for 'Westminster Abbey of Wales' thanks to HLF funding

2011-01-10T00:15:00.000-08:00

A Llantwit Major Chapel has been awarded nearly £300,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to transform the ruined 13th century building into a new learning and exhibition centre. The Galilee Chapel adjoins the Grade I listed St. Illtud's Church, has been described as the Westminster Abbey of Wales for its unique collection of Celtic carved stones and statues of prominent individuals.

The Rectorial Benefice of Llantwit Major will use the £128,100 of HLF funding to create a space dedicated to displaying the Celtic Stones and telling the story of Christianity as it developed from the site. Funding will also be used to train local people as volunteer guides to interpret the story for pilgrims and casual visitors. A series of community events and school activities, as well as the production of a book, exhibition and film themed around 'Carved in Stone', are planned as part of the project to appeal to children and young people.

http://www.hlf.org.uk/news/Pages/GalileeChapel.aspx

Lice tell when Humans first wore clothes!

2011-01-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Scientists studying the evolution of lice, which are tiny bugs that live in clothes, have determined when Humans first started wearing clothes - 170,000 years ago! Once clothes were invented, humans were able to migrate north out of Africa - but they took the lice with them!

And, for those of you interested in fossils, did you ever wondered what an Ammonite ate? Click the link to see a photo of an Ammonite's dinner!

Archaeological Field Skills

2010-11-02T04:45:00.000-07:00

At our August session, we learned about the practical skills and techniques that archaeologists use every day, when they're out on site digging, and how they then make sense of some of the information they recover, using it to piece together the history of the site, to tell the story of how it developed and the people who lived there and used it.

We started off looking at what stratigraphy can tell us about how a site was formed and how archaeologists record what it tells them, creating written records and carefully measured scale drawings. The finds are also important in this process and we talked about how different objects recovered from different parts of the site can inform dating and can be used to add information about how the site was used.

After that, we went outside to get our hands dirty and practise actually digging up the past, learning about finds, different soil types and deposits, and uncovered a Roman hoard, not unlike some of the amazing discoveries which have been made recently and which have been widely publicised in the news.

Stonehenge and Avebury - defining their Outstanding Universal Value

2010-11-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

http://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal/spatial_planning/consultee_documents/avebury_whs/stonehenge_avebury_and_associated_sites_world_heritage_property_consultation_draft

Hi Guys, Just a quick post on my favourite subject...WORLD HERITAGE! Hope it's interesting, see you soon at YAC! Cloe :0D

Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site is one of Wiltshire and the UK’s greatest assets. Recognised as one of the top ranking places in the world alongside cultural marvels such as the Pyramids and natural wonders like the Great Barrier Reef, the World Heritage Site needs appropriate management and protection. Wiltshire Council have launched a consultation to address this.

The consultation provides the public with an opportunity to comment on a document that summarises exactly what it is that makes Stonehenge and Avebury internationally important. The document will be a key reference for those making decisions on how to manage the World Heritage Site and look after the features which qualify it to appear on the World Heritage List. The aim of the council is to produce a clear definition in one document that will help in the long term protection of the World Heritage Site.

Since 2007 UNESCO has required new World Heritage Sites to provide a Statement of Outstanding Universal Value as part of the nomination process. Stonehenge and Avebury became a World Heritage Site back in 1986 and along with a large number of other sites across the world now needs to produce a Statement of Outstanding Universal Value.

The consultation asks you to look at the draft Statement of Outstanding Universal Value and leave your comments, the consultation is open until the end of October and you can find it by visiting the Wiltshire Council website.

Copper heritage boat launch on Swansea's Tawe

2010-11-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Swansea Community Boat Trust are set to take school and community groups and tourists from the marina up to the Liberty Stadium and back. The boat trip will take you through the heart of Swansea's Copperopolis where almost all of the worlds supply of copper was made during the 19th century!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-11606229

Bronze Age hoard found intact in Essex field

2010-11-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

Wow take a look at what archaeologists have found in Essex! Through liason with the PAS metal detectorists and archaeologists worked together to recover this amazing hoard!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11651691

The Governements Statement on the Historic Environment for England - Will it affect Wales?

2010-11-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

The UK Government believes that the historic environment is an asset of enormous cultural, social, economic and environmental value.

They state that the historic environment '...makes a very real contribution to our quality of life and the quality of our places'. Their statement on the historic environment aims to help the Government to realise their vision for the historic environment, and to assist them in working jointly with others to achieve their aims. In it the Government set out thier understanding of the value of the historic environment, and the many roles that Government and others can play.

Just how uesful is this document, and how realistic are it's aims? What do we think in Wales? Will this affect us? Bridgend YAC what do you think?

www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/6763.aspx

The 100th Object, and selling a Roman Cavalry Parade Helmet

2010-10-14T09:35:00.001-07:00

An Exceptional Roman Bronze Cavalry Parade Helmet
Originally uploaded by Ancient Art

If you've been following the BBC series "A History of the World in 100 Objects", you might have heard that today they unveiled the 100th object! Is it what you might have chosen?

=====o0o0o=====

Recently, a very rare type of Roman Helmet, which was found by a metal detectorist in Cumbria, was sold at auction for over £2 Million! Because it is made of bronze, and not gold or silver, it isn't protected by the Treasure Act, and it was sold at auction to a private collector, despite the local museum raising over £1.5 Million to keep it near to where it was found.

Ladies and Gentlefolk, June saw the Joust arrive at Cardiff Castle.

2010-08-10T05:45:00.000-07:00

In June we were lucky enough to go to the Medieval Joust at Cardiff Castle, although not many members turned up a good time was had by all. We started the day by looking at the sword fighting training school. We made the climb up the keep and took in the surroundings of all the activities. From here, after the climb back down, we headed over to the story telling where one of our own members tried pulling the sword from the stone, without much success.

We then joined the ladies to learn about the different crafts and materials they would have made, this was mainly spinning, felting and making clothes. Time for a bit more action and we were spectators in the combat display, where they talked to us about the armour and also techniques in armoured combat. One of our members then had a go at the drill the soldiers back then would have taken part in.

Medieval cookery and herbalism was our next stop. Here we saw the living history group cooking up food for the people involved using original recipes, unfortunately we didn’t get to try any. The herbalism talk was interesting and we learnt about how to make a mouth wash, purified water and rose water.

At midday it was time for the joust; this was really good and got everybody involved. We were on the blue team and unfortunately they lost to the older and wiser red team.

May - Tonight is The Night of Nights!!!

2010-06-09T05:59:00.000-07:00

This session Miles Worner of the Glamorgan Home Guard Living History Group came and with Richard Williams to give us a talk on D-Day and to show us some of their equipment that might have been used during this time. We learnt about the uniforms, maps and weapons of the forced involved in the operation, which was a key stepping stone in the walk to freedom and the end of the German rule in Europe in World War II.

On June 6th 1944, the largest invasion in history took place for the liberation of France and Europe still under the grasp of Nazi Germany. 175,000 troops landed on 6 June 1944. 195,700 Allied naval and Merchant Navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved in a fierce campaign that took 77 days to accomplish and cost more than 10,000 allied lives.

Fancy Getting Medieval?

2010-05-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, there's a free family learning day at Cosmeston Medieval Village. There's lots of free things to do, from story-telling to excavation!

Island Farm Campaign

2010-05-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Following our March session on the Welsh Great Escape where we learnt about the Island Farm prisoner of war camp, a lot of our members were shocked to find that nothing was being done to preserve this site and also the stories and artefacts that went with it, so much so two of our members put together a letter to be sent off. If you are interested in doing the same please feel free to email us a copy of the letter and we can send them out to the relevant people. Here is a copy of the members letter.

April - Conservation

2010-05-11T03:39:00.001-07:00

Jennifer Griffiths from the National Museum Wales joined us this month to give us a talk on Conservation. She told us about the different objects and materials that she comes across in her job working for the department of industry and also the different way in which she deals with the objects. She also told us about other aspects of her job like condition control and pest control.

We then had a turn at being a conservator and packing our own objects to make sure they were safe and could be transported without being broken. For this experiment Jennifer had brought along different size boxes and different types of packing material. We were each given an egg to use as our object. We each packed our own egg into the boxes and taped down the lids. To see if they would survive transportation we went outside and dropped them from a certain height. It was an awful sound as the boxes hit the ground. We took all the boxes back in the hub and we were surprised to find that only 2 of the 15 eggs got broken.

February - Finders Keepers?

2010-05-11T03:36:00.000-07:00

In our February session we were delighted to have with us Mark Lodwick of the Portable Antiquities Scheme and also members of the Swansea Metal Detector’s Club.

Mark opened the session by telling us about the Portable Antiquities Scheme and how important it is to be responsible if you find anything that might be covered by the Treasure Act. He also told us how important Metal Detector’s are and how Archaeologists should work along side them. This is shown by having one on excavation to scan the spoil heaps encase anything is missed and also they are important in locating important Archaeological sites.

The members of the Swansea Metal Detector’s Club then went on to tell us all about their equipment that they use and also the number of different finds these have brought to light.

It was brilliant to get the two different areas coming together and working as a team, also to see some of their amazing finds.

March - Island Farm Prisoner of War Camp

2010-03-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

This month we had a great session with Richard Williams and some members of the Glamorgan Home Guard leading our session on the Island Farm Prisoner of War Camp (Camp 198) in Bridgend. Richard brought along a fellow re-enactor playing the part of a German Soldier imprisoned in Island Farm, who proved to be real trouble!

Richard talked us through the history of the Island Farm POW camp form its origins in 1938 when it was opened, as accommodation for workers at the nearby Royal Ordnance Factory, however as it turned out this accommodation was not popular with the majority of the women working in the ordnance factory preferring to make the journey home! The Home Guard told us that the camp lay empty and unused until 1943 when the Americans used the camp during the preparations for the D-Day landings.

Richard told us that the large number of POWs taken in Europe meant that the authorities had to find suitable accommodation for them, and Island Farm was an obvious choice. The prefabricated concrete huts surrounded by open fields were ideal, although the barracks had to be converted and barbed wire fences erected. This work had not been completed by the time the first batch of prisoners arrived, so the prisoners were put to work completing the conversion. They told us that Island Farm was designated as Camp 198 and was to hold almost 2,000 prisoners. The first POWs were a mixed bag of Italian and German troops, but the War Office soon decided that the camp was too comfortable for enlisted men and that German officers should be held there. The first officer prisoners arrived in November 1944.

We then found out that the POWs soon turned their efforts to escape. Two tunnels were dug in the camp, but the first was discovered in January 1945. The second tunnel escaped detection and on the night of 11 March 1945, 67 prisoners escaped. Eventually all the prisoners were recaptured, some being found within a few miles of the camp by a local policeman on his beat and some others by a group of girl guides! Others managed to travel considerable distances to Birmingham and Southampton, over 150 miles away.

We then learned that only a few weeks after the escape, in March 1945, the authorities transferred all 1,600 officers out of Island Farm Camp. It was then designated Special Camp Eleven and prepared to receive senior German officers, many of whom had been captured in France and were awaiting trial at Nuremberg. In all there were 160 officers holding the rank of general, admiral, or field marshal, including a number of Hitler’s closest advisers:

Ricahrd told us that Island Farm finally closed in 1948, when the last prisoners were returned to Germany.

We asked Richard lots of different questions about Island Farm, but one that kept cropping up was why there isn’t a visitor/interpretation centre at the camp and what could we do about getting one opened. The suggestion was made that maybe as a group we should each write a letter to the local council asking about Island Farm and maybe petitioning for a visitor centre to be opened! So, have a think, ask your mates and get writing guys…..we’ll see what Bridgend YAC can do!

Bronze-age Shipwreck found in Devon

2010-02-23T03:55:00.000-08:00

Bronze Age ship recovered off the Devonshire coast!

Also, there's Chinese coins and bricks, Tombs of Egyptian Pyramid Builders and much more!

Looking at the Landscape

2010-02-03T04:24:00.001-08:00

This session we had a problem with the hub, so it was back to basics and using flip charts. We started off the session by looking at crop marks and how to identify them. Then we learnt how these can help us identify features from the air and using Aerial photography. We saw some amazing photographs, of different sites, and realised that to get the best photographs you have to go at a certain time of day, or even when there has been a small amount of snow, to see the shadows of the features.

We followed this by looking at O.S. Maps and picking out archaeological features that we thought might show up if we were to go and do some Aerial photography. We also looked up some old place names to see if they could tell us anything about the area.

As this year we are having a ‘Past’ Port theme for each session, we finished off making these and chose our sticker for this session. Two people were awarded an extra sticker as they had been paying extra attention in the lesson. At the end of the year who ever has the most stickers and complete ‘Past’ Port will get a prize.

Found - Stone-age surgery survivor!

2010-02-01T06:51:00.000-08:00

Neolithic Amputee found in France.

Not just a pretty face?

2010-01-09T04:09:00.000-08:00

Neanderthal Make-up discovered!

November - Back in time

2009-12-07T03:45:00.001-08:00

November sessions saw us travel back in time over the last year and take a look at the sessions we have had throughout the year. As it was our last session before Christmas we had a few competitions. There was a quiz to test what we had learnt from the sessions, and there were high marks all round. We then had a pot making competition to see who could make the best pot, and again there was a high standard. We also did some jewellery making.

In readiness for next year we started making our “Past” Ports. We will need to have this at all the sessions next year in order to receive a sticker, at the end of next year the one with the most stickers and detailed “Past” Port wins a prize. These will be finished off in the January session so don’t worry if you weren’t there. Or you can make one at home to bring along. They have to have a least 11 pages, one for each session, this way there is space for you to write about each session.

Our Guy

2009-11-10T16:14:00.001-08:00

Our Guy
Originally uploaded by Bridgend Young Archaeologists Club

Because Bonfire Night and Hallowe'en were coming, this month Andy led our session about why Guy Fawkes is remembered, and the stories we tell around this time of year.

We started by asking who knew about The Gunpowder plot, who started it, and why it happened. Although it wasn't his plan, Guy Fawkes was left in charge, but the plot was betrayed by someone warning the King. He was sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered, but escaped this grisly end by jumping from the gallows.

Hallowe'en has traditionally been a time to tell stories about ghosts, and witches and strange beasts, so we were given a selection of books of short stories to search through, and then we read (and even acted) out some of our discoveries.

After the break, the group split into two, with one half building the effigy of Guy Fawkes you see in the photo. The other half set about preparing to perform a traditional Mummers Play, which is a short story acted out by a few people wearing masks, playing the parts of Knights, kings, doctors and fools. This kind of play has been performed since medieval times at least, and is still performed around Britain in the 21st century, if you know where to look!

National Waterfront Museum

2009-10-05T02:28:00.000-07:00

We had a very successful and educational trip to the Waterfront Museum on the 19th September, we started off learning about different kinds of energy we use today, the different applications they can be put to, and where they come from. We then moved on to find out more about the history and development of the Swansea Bay area, and marvel at the achievements of some famous and successful locals, including Aneurin Bevan, who founded the NHS, and Laura Ashley, who was born in Merthyr Tydfil and founded the fashion chain, bringing a lot of work to Wales when business moved to Montgomeryshire.

Being the National Waterfront Museum, we also learned about the maritime history of South Wales, and the different routes ships travelled with different cargoes. Some of the most interesting points the Museum makes are about how people in Wales have lived over the past few hundred years, from work, shopping habits, clothing, money, family, and the role that women play in society, and we particularly enjoyed exploring mid-19th century Swansea through a census taken in 1851, which showed how small and cramped some people's living conditions were, with up to 12 occupants in one small house!

The variety of different technology used in the displays was amazing, and we had a lot of fun trying out some futuristic computers and trying out shopping in the past, trying to feed a family on a miner's salary. One of the most interesting parts of the museum was the mining gallery, as we'd visited Big Pit in August, and it was interesting to see how the two different museums managed to display the history of mining in different ways.

We had a lot of fun, and there was so much to do and see that we actually ran out of time, so we'd love to go back some time. Thank you to everyone who came, and to all the staff at the museum, who were very friendly and helpful and were always around to tell us stories and add even more interesting information to the displays, a good time was had by all!

Bridgend YAC at Big Pit/Pwll Mawr

2009-08-25T03:59:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Just a quick message to say thanks for not getting stuck down the Big Pit, the other weekend! It was a daunting prospect to be taking our group down and around the Big Pit without our Leader Sian, thankfully all went well and everybody had a good time.....I hope!

We started our visit in the pithead baths education centre having a quick look round and a go at filling in our activity sheets, which the Big Pit provided, then it was off down the mine, donning helmet, cap lamp, belt, battery and ‘self rescuer’ – used by miners as we went! The only trouble came when one of our leaders had contraband material confiscated by the mine's staff in case of fire, luckily this was before we'd entered the mine!

The tour of the mine lasted around just about 50 minutes, we learned that the mine was not as deep as many other mines in the area, at just 90 metres deep, it sits on the edge of the coalfield at its highest point where coal is present closer to thee surface and that the mine was called Big Pit or Pwll Mawr because it was the only mine operating two drams at a time, thereby allowing more coal to be removed form the mine in one go.

After our tour of the mine we chose to go into the virtual mine tour in the mining galleries and learn a bit more about the mining process and its development, it was an excellant experience.

Many thanks to all our members who were able to come along and make the big pit trip a great day out!

Cloe, Assistant Leader

Happy 5th Birthday Bridgend Branch

2009-07-27T00:33:00.000-07:00

On 18th July 2009 Bridgend Branch celebrated its 5th Birthday as well as starting off the Archaeology Festival. To mark this occasion we decided to have a party. We invited a number of people from over Bridgend not only our members. We had a nice turn out, the weather stayed on our side and it was glorious.

A number of activities were available for people to try, there was pot making led by Andy Piper, mummifying oranges which was led by Ellie Graham and Jewellery Making led by Siân Williams. We also had a member of the Glamorgan Home Guard re-enactment group (which appeared on BBC's Coal House at War) join us dressed as a 101st airborne paratrooper with some of his kit.

To fill our bellies Richard Lewis was in charge of the BBQ and Caroline Thomas had made some cakes. Wendi Terry paid us a visit to join in the celebrations and try out the activities; she was greatly received especially as she brought cake, which is a favourite with the group and sure to make you friends and welcome any time.

We held a raffle and had some great prizes donated to us, the winners are as follows:-

Egyptian Activity Pack - Bryce Cochrane
CADW Annual Family Membership - Ashton Cochrane
Annual Subscription to Current Archaeology - Rhys Muzzupappa
Behind the Scene's tour at Cardiff University Archaeology Department (with an X-Ray of an object of your choice) - Steven Cole.