Collection: Hull and East Riding Museum of Archaeology

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Cornucopia)

  Geology Collection

  Fossils of the Corallian of N Yorks., Kellaways Rock of South Cave, Speeton Clay at the type section, the local Chalk and superficial deposits of Holderness. Published type, figured and cited material in ‘The Geological Curator’. Rocks , minerals and fossils represented by 12,000 local Jurassic, Cretaceous and Pleistocene fossils with particularly important Corallian of N Yorks., Kellaways Rock of South Cave, Speeton Clay at the type section, the local Chalk and superficial deposits of Holderness. Published type, figured and cited material in ‘The Geological Curator’.

  Subjects

  Geology

  Biology Collection

  Hans Schlesch collection of western Palaearctic Mollusca Kendall Museum collection of exotic marine Mollusca Beverley Museum herbarium of 815 local sheets The Botanical collection is yery small compared to Pre-War and is only 2 herbaria: – Beverley Museum acquired in 1982 consisting of 812 sheets of mostly local flowering plants and ferns. C W Mason collection of seaweeds recently added to with local collecting Zoological collections are also now small and relatively insignificant except the Hans Schlesch collection of western Palaearctic Mollusca and the ex Kendall Museum collection of exotic mostly tropical marine Mollusca. A reasonable series of British land, freshwater and marine Mollusca, but Insecta not so good. Bird study skin collection includes figured and cited specimens and some important mounted birds. The mammal skin collection is small at 40 specimens.

  Subjects

  Biology

  Archaeology Collection

  The core of the collection was gathered and described by the 19th century antiquarian J. R. Mortimer, and comprises 66,000 objects excavated from one of Britain’s foremost archaeological areas – the Yorkshire Wolds. The 1930s and 1940s saw excavations at Brough and Elmswell, North Ferriby, Eastburn, Barton-upon-Humber and elsewhere. These recovered prehistoric, Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon assemblages, particularly from the Humber shore. Natural science, foreign and general collections were lost during World War II, though the recovery of material from the bombed Albion Street museum was achieved in 1989. The Mortimer Collection had fortunately been moved from this site. Rural excavations from the 1950s to the 1970s promoted modern standards of fieldwork and research, adding value to the finds and archives they generated. These included prehistoric Garton/Wetwang; Roman villas and farms at Rudston, Brantingham and Welton; Anglo-Saxon cremations at Sancton; and the medieval village of Wharram Percy. From 1987, at West Heslerton, computer-assisted recording helped analyse ancient landscapes, maintaining the link between the collection and professional innovation. From 1964, Hull Museums led archaeological responses to urban redevelopment in the region. Stratigraphic investigation of waterlogged medieval deposits recovered artefacts of organic materials, and a wealth of environmental evidence. In the 1970s, work centred on Hull, moving to Beverley in the 1980s. The 1990s saw publication of most of this work. The collection also includes some 200 Egyptian objects, which are described separately. Other objects are known to have come from the sites of Tell el-Fara (Beth Pelet) and Tell Jemma (Gerar) in ancient Palestine (excavated by Petrie with the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1927-1930). The Prehistory of the region is particularly well represented, with grave-goods and human remains from the Yorkshire Wolds dated from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, and an extensive stone and flint collection. Thwing presents a centre of Bronze Age authority, to accompany barrow burials on the Wolds and votive wetland hoards. The Garton/Wetwang cemetery and settlement complex is the largest such Iron Age site excavated in Britain. Prehistoric boats from the Humber region include the technically sophisticated Bronze Age North Ferriby boats, a primitive Iron Age dug-out.

  Subjects

  Archaeology

  Ancient Egyptian Collection

  The museum holds 200 ancient Egyptian objects which are part of the Archaeology collection. This includes prehistoric material ex Arthur Croft; Romano-Egyptian material ex Gayer Anderson; ex Martyn Kennard; ex C.W. Mason and ex Rustafjaell. Classes of objects represented in the collection include: amulets; basketry/ropes; coffins; faience figures; flints; funerary cones; jewellery; metal figures; metal vessels; human remains (mummies); pottery; scarabs/sealings; shabtis; cosmetic palettes; stone figures; stone vessels; textiles; toilet articles; tomb models; and tools/weapons. Unfortunately, much of the museum record was lost during bombing raids in 1943. However, objects are known to have come from the following locations in Egypt (with the name of the excavator/sponsor and year of excavation given where possible): Abydos (Seton-Karr Coll.); Badari (Brunton with the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1923-1925); Fayum (Caton-Thompson with the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1925, 1926); Beni Hasan (Garstang with Liverpool University, 1902-1904); el-Kab (probably excavated material but no record); Qau (Brunton and Petrie with the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1923-1924); Thebes (inc. Libyan desert; Luxor). The collection also includes replicas from 1924 of Tutankhamun’s tomb furniture.

  Subjects

  Antiquities; Ancient civilizations; Antiquity; Archaeological sites; Archaeological objects; Egyptology; Archaeological excavations

  Source: Cornucopia

  Date: Not known, but before 2015

  Licence: CC BY-NC