Fantastic Fossil Fun at Wiltshire Museum

In the beautiful town of Devizes (Wiltshire), lies a little gem of a museum which houses an amazing collection of ancient artefacts associated with this historic county of south-western England.  The chalk downlands of this part of the UK have provided archaeologists with a huge collection of Stone Age and Bronze Age relics and the museum itself boasts many fine examples including gold from the time that Stonehenge was built.

Fossil Fun

Wiltshire is the home of many historic, ancient monuments and visitors to locations such as the West Kennet Long Barrow, the Neolithic stone circle at Avebury and of course Stonehenge itself can learn a lot about the people who built these structures during a visit to the Wiltshire Museum.

Wiltshire Museum, is located in the heart of Devizes about ten miles to the north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge, now a World Heritage Site.  Within its walls, the extensive collection traces human history in this part of the world over the last half a million years or so.

A New Exhibition

However, a new exhibition housed in the temporary gallery space takes visitors further back in time as it explores fossils and prehistoric animals, many of which would have been familiar to our ancient ancestors.  Wiltshire itself, borders Dorset and team members at Everything Dinosaur recall talking to farmers in the area who have ploughed up evidence of strange marine creatures that once lived in a tropical sea that covered much of Europe.  A number of Mesozoic aged fossils are on display along with more recent finds that bring to life the Stone Age and depict animals that made up part of the prehistoric landscape.

Wiltshire Museum’s Fossil Exhibition 2014

Family orientated fossil exhibition at the Museum.

Picture credit: Wiltshire Museum

Life in the Ice Age

The friendly staff are on hand to guide visitors through life in the Ice Age and to explain a little more about the amazing prehistoric creatures whose fossils can be found in the sedimentary strata.  The Wiltshire Museum is open seven days a week and the exhibition will run all through spring and into August.  The Museum has recently been rated one of the top tourist attractions and places to see in Wiltshire on Trip Advisor.

To learn more about the range of prehistoric animal themed gifts stocked by Everything Dinosaur: Visit Everything Dinosaur.

To read an article from Everything Dinosaur about how the fossilised remains of a Jurassic marine creature was used in a remarkable and unexpected way: Ink from Jurassic Belemnite found in Wiltshire “re-writes” history.