The archaeology collections include material excavated from Sheffield and the Peak District region as well as objects from Ancient Egyptian, Roman and other non-British societies.

The collection was founded by the Sheffield Literary and Philosophical Society and was transferred to Sheffield’s first public museum at Weston Park in 1875. The collection includes important prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon finds derived from burial mounds in the Derbyshire Peak District by Thomas Bateman between 1840 and 1861.  Bateman’s collection includes the Benty Grange Helmet which was the first Anglo-Saxon helmet to be found in Britain.

Around 30% of the collection comprises nationally important material from Sheffield and South Yorkshire dating from Prehistory to the industrial developments of the 1800s. This includes flint implements from Mesolithic sites such as Deepcar and grinding stones used for flour production in Iron Age Wharncliffe. Material such as pottery, knives and coins from Sheffield Castle, which was destroyed above ground in the 1640s, show the town’s importance during the medieval period. Later finds include 18^th century pottery from Sheffield Manor and glassware from Gawber and Bolsterstone.

In the last decade the collection has been enhanced by bulk accessions of small archaeological fragments derived from excavations at 18^th, 19^th and 20^th century industrial sites across Sheffield.

You can explore Sheffield's collection in more detail by visiting our subsite idigsheffield.org.uk

Enquiries

As a result of recent reductions in funding the post of Curator of Archaeology is currently vacant. We hope to recruit to this position as soon as our funding allows, however at present we are unable to answer any enquiries about the Archaeology, Egyptology, Coins, or Tokens & Medals collections. This includes access to the collections for research, loans and exhibitions.

If you have an archaeological object, coin or medal for identification please bring it to one of the Archaeology Curator Days at Weston Park led by Amy Downes, your local Finds Liaison Officer.

If you have any enquiries about archaeological finds, Amy is happy to answer them. Her contact details are: Tel: 01924 305 359 Email: adownes@wyjs.org.uk
 

If you would like to speak to someone at Museums Sheffield directly please contact our Archaeology department on 0114 278 2768 or email archaeology@museums-sheffield.org.uk