We arrive in Devizes to visit @WiltshireMuseum - which very much does what it says on the tin.

The museum was opened in 1874, & is run by the Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Society, which was founded 21 years previously (making it almost as old as @sussex_society!)
The county archaeological societies are one of the glories of England - but COVID is having a devastating impact on them. The best way to help the society of my native county is to visit @WiltshireMuseum: an absolute treasure trove of finds & wonders from across Wiltshire.
Horatio: a sad but evocative memorial of Devizes’ past. Once thought to have been shot in the Cape in 1800, but probably a circus lion, he was used as a display in a shop window, paraded annually during the 30s in the Devizes carnival, & used to raise money to fund 2 Spitfires.
As befits a museum that is itself part of Wiltshire’s history, @WiltshireMuseum boasts at least 2 ghosts: Maud Cunnington, the formidable archaeologist who dug at Woodhenge & across Wiltshire, & was the first woman to serve as the Society’s president, & a mysterious little girl.
A jadeite axe (4000 BC-ish): fashioned in the Alps, brought to Wiltshire via Brittany, & then deposited in the River Avon.

Found in 2003. The discoverer tried to use it to open a letter, couldn’t, & angrily threw it out of a window - hence the chip... #WiltshireMuseum.
Bones found in the West Kennet Long Barrow, which may have been a necklace, but more probably - & excitingly - was a kind of instrument: designed to be swung over the head as a bull-roarer. #WiltshireMuseum
Ripple-flaked flint arrowhead, Neolithic, found at Marden Henge in 2010. A stunning example of Wiltshire workmanship! #WiltshireMuseum
“The best beaker in Britain!” - David Dawson, director of @WiltshireMuseum, shows off the exquisite diamond design on this masterpiece of Beaker art
“The best beaker in Britain!” - David Dawson, director of @WiltshireMuseum, shows off the exquisite diamond design on this masterpiece of Beaker art
“The best beaker in Britain!” - David Dawson, director of @WiltshireMuseum, shows off the exquisite diamond design on this masterpiece of Beaker art
Bronze Age bead, found at Wilsford Barrow, just south of Stonehenge - the earliest piece of glass ever discovered in Britain! #WiltshireMuseum
Trumpet made from a human bone. The person whose bone it was made from seems to have been contemporaneous with the man the musical instrument was then buried with.
The Bush Barrow burial, Britain’s richest Bronze Age burial, found in 1808 - a brilliant example of how the discovery of Wiltshire’s history is itself a part of Wiltshire’s history. (The bones etc are a model of the original burial) #WiltshireMuseum
The Bush Barrow burial, Britain’s richest Bronze Age burial, found in 1808 - a brilliant example of how the discovery of Wiltshire’s history is itself a part of Wiltshire’s history. (The bones etc are a model of the original burial) #WiltshireMuseum
The Bush Barrow burial, Britain’s richest Bronze Age burial, found in 1808 - a brilliant example of how the discovery of Wiltshire’s history is itself a part of Wiltshire’s history. (The bones etc are a model of the original burial) #WiltshireMuseum
The Bush Barrow burial, Britain’s richest Bronze Age burial, found in 1808 - a brilliant example of how the discovery of Wiltshire’s history is itself a part of Wiltshire’s history. (The bones etc are a model of the original burial) #WiltshireMuseum
The Bush Barrow burial, Britain’s richest Bronze Age burial, found in 1808 - a brilliant example of how the discovery of Wiltshire’s history is itself a part of Wiltshire’s history. (The bones etc are a model of the original burial) #WiltshireMuseum
You can follow @holland_tom.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled:
There are a lot of misconceptions about the Turkish diaspora in Germany. Since i just finished writing an essay about this topic I thought it's time to give other people
Read more
Las mejores calculadoras online en 2020A thread http://totumat.com/2020/11/26/las-mejores-calculadoras-online-en-2020/ Cuando se estudian asignaturas que requieren de cálculos complicados, nada mejor que contar con una buena calculadora.
Read more
Mitigating #ClimateChange is as much about taking up new techs as about leaving others behindMost studies focus on #coal's global downfall but another #energy tech decline is loomingRead my new
Read more