Dusting off the Archives – The Peterborough Archaeological Archive Enhancement Project – Jason Cumberworth BA (hons) ACIfA

The team at Peterborough Museum are responsible for the finds from many local archaeological excavations of international importance, including the Roman town of Durobrivae, the Bronze Age site at Flag Fen, and the more recently discovered Bronze Age site at Must Farm, often called ‘Britain’s Pompeii’.
Loss of expert staff and reduced funding mean museums of all types and sizes have struggled to take good care of their archives – and Peterborough is no exception. The first stage of the Project in spring 2022 was a top-level audit of the archive and an initial digital database. This recorded over 6,500 boxes of material, the large majority of which were in need of re-packaging, re-boxing and cataloguing to bring them up to current archiving best practice. 
This ambitious project is being led by archaeologist, Jason Cumberworth (Peterborough Museum) and Dr Sam Paul (Sam Paul Heritage). As well as addressing an urgent local need, the project is establishing methodologies and best practices which are likely to be applicable to museums throughout the country. Once the items have been digitally recorded and stored appropriately, they are made available for academic research. The project is being supported by Historic England and The Headley Trust.

Non-members are welcome – tickets are £5.00 and are available from the Maltings Box Office.