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Archaeology is the study of people in the past using the evidence they have left behind, from buildings to field systems, from their everyday rubbish to their most precious treasures. In the towns, villages and countryside of West Suffolk, the evidence survives all around us, and some of the finest fragments from our remote past are on show.
The majority of St Edmundsbury Borough's archaeology collections are displayed at the Visitor Centre at West Stow.
A tabular guide to Archaeology at Moyse's Hall and West Stow
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Date
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Period
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Characteristics
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Collections
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Stone Age
(Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic).
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before - 2500 BC
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Hunting, fishing, food-gathering, later some farming.
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Flint tools, stone axes, antler picks and antler mace-head. Displayed at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village.
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Bronze Age
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2500 - 700 BC
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First use of metal tools.
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Beakers, arrowheads, axe-heads, urns, leather-making tools, weapons, jet necklace and Isleham Hoard. Displayed at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village.
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Iron Age
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700 BC - AD43
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First use of iron tools.
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Vessels, coins, terret rings, spearheads and pottery. Displayed at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village. |
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Roman
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AD43 - 410
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Development of roads and towns, monetary economy with mass-production and overseas trade. Introduction of Christianity. |
Fragments from villas, coin hoard, objects from Rougham tumulus and Haverhill casket burials, pottery and household objects. Displayed at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village. |
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Anglo-Saxon
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AD410 - 1066
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Pagan settlers with rural moneyless economy. Later, Christianity and learning reintroduced. Towns, trade and monetary system arise again. |
Grave goods from West Stow and Westgarth Gardens cemetery and objects from West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village. Displayed at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village. |
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Medieval
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1066 - 1500
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Change of overlords with Norman Conquest. Importance of Church and monasteries. Trade and towns supported by mainly agricultural base. |
Wooden posts and beams, chests, coins, keys; weapons and domestic items. Mainly displayed at Moyse's Hall Museum. |
If you are aged between 8-16 and you would like to find out more about History and archaeology then why not join our Bury Young Archaeologists.
Page last updated October 2009
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