Guest blog by St Fagans Youth Forum members - Amy Gifford, Kate Gregory & Beth Ivey-Williams - live from Bryn Eryr!
Hello everyone. We’re the St Fagans Youth Forum and today (12 March) we’re helping to build an Iron Age bread oven at Bryn Eryr. Ian, the Museum’s Interpreter, has been busy researching traditional building methods and the history of bread ovens through time. In this blog, we’ll take you through part one of the process. So if you fancy building your own pizza oven for your garden at home, follow our guide below.
Step 1
Use wooden stakes to mix local ‘clom’ (clay), water and sand to a thick dough. Patience and perseverance essential! Some would say it’s quite therapeutic; a weird kind of stress buster!
Tip from Amy: “Go with your gut instinct. You’ll know when the dough is at the right consistency.”
Step 2
Mix dry sand with water. Use the mixture to build a dome (former) in the centre of the oven base. Ian pre-made the base out of clay and a flat stone. When building the dome, even out the sides for a rounded finish. Don’t use too much water.
Tip from Beth: “You’ll have to get your hands dirty, but it’s just like building a sand castle.”
Step 3
Build-up your dome to a rounded arch.
Tip from Kate: “Keep warm as you work. Your hands will get very cold as you sculpt the wet material.”
Step 4
Smooth off all the sand and cover your dome with strips of damp newspaper. This is a bit like papier mâché.
Step 5
Cover the dome with the clay mixture you prepared earlier in step 1. Let it set for two days.
I volunteer one day per week with National Museum Cardiff’s Preventive Conservation team who is responsible for the care of the museum’s collections.
So what constitutes a typical day in the life of a Preventive Conservation volunteer? Typical is not a word that you can really use because it is pretty rare that we’ll be doing the same thing two weeks in a row. Looking after museum collections involves many diverse jobs.
My first ever task as a volunteer was to replace the silica gel in some of the object storage boxes in one of the Archaeology stores. Each of the plastic boxes contains a unique object. The silica gel keeps the object dry, which prevents metals corroding, for example helmets and swords. It’s pretty exciting to work in a museum store, see different parts of the past and know that you had a hand in preserving objects for the future.
What else has this volunteer done? Spot checking for pests in the Entomology store was a pretty strange experience. We look over the insect collections for signs of pest damage. Yes, the dead insects in the store are at risk of being eating by live insects! It really gives this sense of awe and then sadness when you see beautiful insects, both large and small, that you’d never imagined you’d see in real life and then you spot parts where they’ve been eaten by a pest. Looking over the collection regularly, and spotting pest activity early, means that specimens are not damaged by pests.
Most recently we’ve been moving some of the silver and jade objects in an Art store into new storage cases. If you ever get the chance to do this let me give you some advice; don’t think about the value of the objects you’re moving. If you do then you will be nervous. Instead focus on how amazing these objects are and how you’re helping to continue their story by making sure they are stored correctly. The museum objects will stick around a while longer because of your help.
In closing I only have this to say; if you ever get the opportunity to volunteer at a museum you should do it. It may end up giving you some of the best experiences of your life. That’s what it did for me.
Stefan Jarvis.
Find out more about care of collections at Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales here.
Women's History Month is deeply rooted in the suffrage movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. To highlight the need for equality, it was vital to show the contributions that women had made throughout history and continued to make in current times. In celebration of Women's History Month, and in conjunction with Treasures: Adventures in Archaeology, we take a look at some of the women who helped shape the discipline of archaeology.
Gertrude Bell was born in County Durham in 1868. She was educated at home and went on the attend Oxford University where she earned a degree in history. During a trip to Iran, she fell in love with the history and culture of the Middle East. Becoming fluent in Arabic and Persian, she travelled extensively throughout the region, many times to places few Europeans had ever been. During her trips, she would also carry out archaeological surveys of ruins and published several books. Because of her unparalleled knowledge of the Middle East, when the First World War began she took a job with British Intelligence in the Arab Bureau in Cairo. While there she worked with fellow adventurer and archaeologist T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). In the post war years Bell became deeply involved in the formation of Iraq and Jordan as independent nations. She had a close relationship with King Faisal of Iraq and Syria and in 1922 the new government appointed her Director of Antiquities. In this role, Bell became a passionate supporter of artefacts remaining in their original countries, not in European collections, and to combat this she wrote the Laws of Excavation, which gave protection to archaeological sites in Iraq, and established the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad. Recently a movie, Queen of the Desert, was made of Bell’s life starring Nicole Kidman.
1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo burial ship by Harold John Phillips
Tessa (Verney) Wheeler was born in Johannesburg in 1893. The family relocated to England and Tessa read history at University College London. While there she met her future husband, Mortimer Wheeler, who would become a preeminent archaeologist. After graduating, Tessa move to Cardiff where her husband had taken up the position of Keeper of Archaeology at the National Museum of Wales. During their time there, Tessa and Mortimer carried out extensive excavations at Roman sites such as Segontium (Caernarfon) and Y Gaer (Brecon). Just as they were preparing to begin excavating at Caerleon, Mortimer was appointed Keeper at the London Museum. Instead of abandoning the project, Tessa took over the excavation. Early in her career she was often overshadowed by her husband but in later life she was recognised for her fieldwork and the contributions she made to the ‘Wheeler team’.
Tessa Wheeler at Caerleon amphitheatre
Turkish archaeologist Halet Çambel was a woman of many talents. Born in Berlin in 1916, she had taken up fencing as a child and became the first Muslim woman to compete in the Olympics as part of the 1936 Turkish fencing team. She famously declined an invitation to meet Adolph Hitler. She then attended the Sorbonne in Paris where she read archaeology and the languages of Hittite, Assyrian and Hebrew. She spent most of her career excavating in Turkey and spent over 50 years working at Karatepe, a Hittite stronghold. She created the department of Prehistoric Archaeology at Istanbul University and in 2004 was awarded the Prince Claus Award, which is presented to those “whose cultural actions have a positive impact on the development of their societies.”
A person doesn’t have to be a trained expert to have an impact on archaeology. Take for example, Edith Pretty. Born in 1883, Edith’s family saw the value in education, especially education via travel. Throughout her many travels, she was able to see archaeological excavations in progress. Her father also had an interest in archaeology and was given permission to excavate a Cistercian Abbey near their home in Cheshire. Having inherited money, she bought land in Suffolk and moved there with her husband. The property held several burial mounds which did not appear to have been excavated. Edith and her husband often wondered what may lie beneath the mounds but Edith wanted any excavations to be done using the most up to date scientific methods. In 1937, she contacted the Ipswich Museum and requested the mounds be excavated. Two years later, the largest of the mounds produced one of the most important archaeological finds, the Sutton Hoo burial. She gifted the finds to the British Museum where they are on display.
1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo burial ship by Harold John Phillips
These are but a few of the women who have contributed to archaeology. For more information, please visit http://trowelblazers.com/
A number of months ago, I told you that we are currently busy preparing objects for our new galleries. The most recent one to land on our work table is a Memorial sampler. It has an embroidered inscription, carried out in cross-stitch using silk thread, which reads: ‘In loving memory of / Elizabeth Morgan, / formerly of Llanishan / who died Dec 6th 1885 / Aged 30 years / and was interred at / Glyn-Taff Cemetery / A Ray of light from God’s own light - / She beamed and made of life the best / She touched the earth and made it bright / She blest us all and went to rest.’
The sampler was donated by the great-grand daughter of Elizabeth Morgan, T. A. Bennett, from Pen-y-Graig, Rhondda.
Memorial sampler, for Gweithdy, F80.183
The interesting thing about this sampler is that the ground is not textile but is made from card punched through with a gridwork of holes, through which the embroidery is worked. As it is made from both textile and paper elements this has given us an opportunity to tackle its conservation as a cross-disciplinary project; drawing on our respective expertise in both textile and paper conservation.
Looking at the object in its frame, the senior conservator archives and I could already see that the sampler had been badly mounted in the past, having been adhered directly to a rigid card backing. This has been partly responsible for causing splits in the card ground as the unevenly applied adhesive restricted its natural expansion and contraction through changes in environmental humidity levels. Our challenge here will be to devise a method of removing the embroidery from this unsuccessful backing and to come up with a new method of stabilising and mounting it, so that it can be displayed safely. As we get stuck into the project, we shall give you updates on how the work is progressing.
9 Mawrth 1946: Ir Bala hefo’r bus 12.30. Prynu shuttle o nodwyddau i Es ir machine wnio.
Yn ei dyddiadur heddiw, mae Kate Rowlands yn sôn ei bod wedi prynu nodwyddau ar gyfer peiriant gwnïo ei merch, Elsie. Yn ystod y 1940au, roedd medr gyda'r nodwydd a'r peiriant gwnïo yn fantais fawr i fenywod Cymru. Dyma ddegawd o ddogni ac ailgylchu, trwsio a phwytho.
Dogni dillad (1941 - 1949)
Yn dilyn cyflwyno dogni ar fwyd yn 1940, daeth dogni dillad i rym ym Mehefin 1941. Roedd sawl rheswm tu ôl i’r penderfyniad, ond y prif nod oedd lleihau’r galw am ddeunyddiau crai ac ailgyfeirio llafur at waith rhyfel. Erbyn 1941, roedd mewnforio cynnyrch o’r cyfandir yn amhosibl. Ar ben hyn, roedd y ffatrïoedd hynny a fyddai, fel rheol, wedi cynhyrchu brethyn a gwisgoedd parod yn ceisio ymdopi â’r galw newydd am lifrai milwrol. O ganlyniad, rhoddwyd llyfr dogni dillad i bob unigolyn. I brynu dilledyn, rhaid oedd talu gyda chyfuniad o arian parod a thocynnau o’r llyfr.
Roedd pob unigolyn yn cael cwota o docynnau i’w gwario yn flynyddol, gyda phob tocyn yn gyfwerth â hyn a hyn o bwyntiau. Pe bai angen ffrog newydd ar Kate Rowlands, byddai wedi gorfod ildio un-ar-ddeg tocyn. Crys newydd i Emrys? Wyth tocyn. Pâr o ’sgidiau i Dwa? Saith tocyn. Ar ddechrau’r cynllun, roedd pob unigolyn yn derbyn 66 o bwyntiau bob blwyddyn, ond wrth i’r Rhyfel fynd yn ei flaen, bu’n rhaid gostwng y cwota. Roedd y sefyllfa ar ei waethaf rhwng 1 Medi 1945 a 30 Ebrill 1946 – dim ond 24 tocyn oedd ar gael y pryd hynny.
Make do and Mend
Yng ngwyneb y prinderau hyn, cyhoeddodd y Bwrdd Masnach lyfryn bychan o'r enw Make do and Mend er mwyn annog menywod Prydain i fod yn ddyfeisgar a chreadigol â'u dillad. I gyd-fynd â'r ymgyrch, lluniwyd cymeriad o'r enw 'Mrs Sew and Sew' i hyrwyddo'r neges mewn cylchgronau a phapurau newydd. Sefydlwyd dosbarthiadau gwnïo mewn neuaddau bentref ac ysgolion ledled y wlad i gynorthwyo menywod ar bob agwedd o fywyd yn y cartref.
Mae sawl enghraifft yng nghasgliad tecstiliau'r Amgueddfa o waith llaw'r cyfnod hwn. Un o fy ffefrynnau i yw'r gorchudd clustog a welir yma a wnaed drwy ailgylchu hen sach ac edafedd lliw.
