The Oxfordshire Museum
Archaeological finds
Collections include sites and objects from every period of human history.
The Museums Resource Centre is the principal store for all archaeological sites excavated or studied in Oxfordshire, apart from those situated on land belonging to Oxford University - in that case, and in several other special cases, the repository is the Ashmolean Museum.
Our collections
Collections include sites and objects from every period of human history - prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, medieval and post-medieval.
We also host archaeological finds and information from all the towns, and nearly all the parishes, in Oxfordshire.
What's found on archaeology sites?
We store many items found on archaeology sites. They include:
- animal bones and human skeletons, and things made of metals such as jewellery and personal ornaments, weapons, tools, vessels, locks and keys, and fittings for furniture and buildings
- precious metals such as gilt medieval brooches and spurs and silver chalices
- pottery, tile, glass, flint, stonework and building materials
- handmade objects of wood, ivory, and recycled animal bone
- bags of slag and soil samples.
What can these archaeological finds tell us?
Site collections give us the information we have about the county's natural environment and developing landscape from thousands of years ago to the present.
We find out about its wildlife, farms and gardens, settlements, houses and furniture, the food eaten, the cooking methods, everyday clothes, transport and occupations, and even games and toys.
Archaeological sites
Recent sites include Eynsham Abbey - the medieval Benedictine Abbey of Eynsham is one of the most notable monastic sites in Oxfordshire. Excavations from 1989 to 1993 revealed an outstanding number of beautiful and interesting artefacts.
For more information and visits, please contact us.
Identifying archaeological finds
We are ready to assist researchers with our finds identification service run in conjunction with the Finds Liaison Officer. Contact us for help in identifying a find.
Finds Liaison Officer and the Portable Antiquities Scheme
The Portable Antiquities Scheme is a voluntary scheme for the recording of archaeological finds made by the public. The regional Finds Liaison Officer covers Oxfordshire via the Museums Resource Centre.Cases of potential treasure should be reported to the Finds Liaison Office.
Box charges for depositing with Oxfordshire Museum Service
Deposit prices from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 will be £110 (excluding VAT) for any deposit.
This includes the deposit of three boxes/plan rolls (any combination of document box, finds box, or plan roll). For archives of more than three boxes, this will cover the three most expensive items and additional boxes will be charged as below.
| Find box | External dimensions (cubic metre) | Price (ex VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| Full box | 0.4 x 0.25 x 0.22m = 0.022 | £72 |
| Half box | 0.4 X 0.25 X 0.11m = 0.011 | £36 |
| Quarter box | 0.4 x 0.125 x 0.11m = 0.0055 | £18 |
| Eighth box | 0.2 X 0.125 X 0.11m = 0.00275 | £9 |
| Sixteenth box | 0.1 X 0.125 X 0.11m 0.2 x 0.63 x 0.11 m = 0.001375 |
£4.50 |
| Skull box = half box | 0.2 X 0.2 X 0.25 = 0.012 | £36 |
| Human bone = 1.5 box | 0.6 X 0.25 X 0.25 = 0.039 | £108 |
| Map rolls | per 100 grams | £1.52 |
Finds boxes are wire stitched, acid free, archival quality cardboard boxes, with lids with a depth of at least 75mm.
| Archive box | External dimensions (cubic metre) | Price (ex VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| Full Box (1) | 0.4 x 0.075 x 0.27m = 0.0081 | £26.50 |
| Half Box (2) | 0.4 x 0.045 x 0.27m = 0.0049 | £16 |
Archive boxes are hinged lid, acid free, archival flat document cases.
Additional charges
Non-standard boxes will be charged to the nearest standard box size.
Our standard box sizes are kept on file by G Ryder & Co Ltd. Other suppliers can be used
Update on the research on the Oxfordshire Mirror
Similarities
We have been very lucky to have money to do some research into the Oxfordshire Mirror. We were particularly struck by the Oxfordshire Mirror’s similarity to another decorated Iron Age mirror, the Pegsdon Mirror, which was found by metal detectorists in what later turned out to be the grave of an Iron Age woman, located between the villages of Pegsdon and Shillington in Bedfordshire. The find-spot of the Pegsdon Mirror is about 40 miles away from the area of south Oxfordshire we believe the Oxfordshire Mirror was found having received unconfirmed, anecdotal reports suggesting the actual find-spot of the Oxfordshire Mirror was 3-4 miles west of Didcot. Both sites also lie close to the Icknield Way prehistoric route, which was certainly in existence at the time the two mirrors were made. The grant money was made available by the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) from the Higher Education Funding Council for England via the University of Oxford, to all of whom we owe our thanks.
Patterns
The patterns on the two mirrors are startlingly similar, and there are no other two decorated Iron Age mirrors which look so alike as these. With this in mind, we felt sure there must be some deeper connection between the two mirrors, and the HEIF grant allowed us to try and find that link. Luton Culture, who run Wardown Park Museum and Stockwood Discovery Centre, own the Pegsdon Mirror and were very kind and co-operative in lending it to us to enable a comparative research study and to put on display as part of the recent Forged In Fire exhibition.
X-ray
Initially we tried to use non-destructive x-ray fluorescence analysis, where an X-ray beam excites an X-ray spectrum which is shaped by the elements present and their concentrations. This was largely unsuccessful, as all we could analyse was the corrosion on the surface of the mirrors. However, it did suggest (in the case of the Pegsdon Mirror) that the handle and the disc were both made from the same material, as the make-up of the corroded bronze on the surface of each was more or less identical. We then decided to take samples- very small ones, and with the help of Dr Peter Northover, a metallurgist who has worked extensively on archaeological projects and analyses, we did just that. It was quite nerve-wracking, seeing the tiny section cut out of the Oxfordshire Mirror, but one sample from the disc and another from the handle showed terrific results. Peter was able to tell us not only what the chemical composition of the two samples was, but also a lot about the manufacturing process by which the mirror disc was made. This showed that the disc had been cast from molten bronze and then hammered out to make it thinner and flatter once the bronze had cooled. This must have been a very specialised process performed by a talented craftsman. The technique was demonstrated by John Fenn when he visited The Oxfordshire Museum in July with his reproduction Iron Age mirrors.
Remarkable result
The success of the sampling on the Oxfordshire Mirror was sufficient for Luton Culture to give us permission to sample their mirror too, although we could only sample the disc and not the handle. The results of the analysis were remarkable and a little surprising. The similarity of the bronze from the Pegsdon disc and the Oxfordshire handle was exact - so much so that it is extremely likely that the two were made in the same place at the same time. This is a truly remarkable result, and clearly shows a definitive, physical link between the two mirrors. The results will be properly published in an academic journal in due course.
What are the implications?
The HEIF grant funded research is now over, but we are left with a legacy, and with more questions to ask. We have developed a link with Luton Culture which I hope will continue for a long time. Certainly as we share the curation of these two remarkable mirrors the two institutions are inextricably linked into the future. But also we are left to ask what the implications of this connection between two of the best examples of decorated Iron Age mirrors are, and what does this mean in the wider context of Iron Age archaeology?
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