Virtual Tour of the British Museum

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archaeology, Heritage, London, Places to Visit, technology

Did you know that, as well as producing maps of streets, Google has been using its Street View technology to allow people to discover exhibits and collections from museums and archives all around the world? The Google Cultural Institute includes images from the Globe Theatre, Carnegie Hall, the Bolshoi Theatre and the National Gallery, London.

One of the latest to be added is the British Museum in London. Their Museum View allows you to virtually walk around the museum and view the exhibits. As well as the regular galleries, there are also images based on recent exhibitions including ‘Celtic Life in Iron Age Britain’ and ‘Egypt: Faith after the Pharoahs’.

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Castles: Britain’s Fortified History

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archaeology, Britain, medieval, Normans, technology

Another series on castles is also starting soon on BBC4. Called ‘Castles: Britain’s Fortified History’, it is presented by historian Sam Willis who traces the story of Britain’s castles and their unique role in our history, art and literature. The first episode is being shown on Thursday 4th December at 9.00pm and should be of particular interest to those considering taking ‘The Norman World’ at Loughborough in the Spring as it begins with the Norman Conquest of England in AD 1066.

Archaeology on TV

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archaeology, Britain, Leicester, Leicestershire, Loughborough, medieval, Normans, Roman, Roman Britain, technology

Those of you who recently completed the ‘Frontiers of the Roman Empire’ course at Loughborough, or who are considering taking the ‘Archaeology of Roman Britain’ course in the spring at Leicester, may be interested in the last episode of ‘Secrets from the Sky’ on Friday 21st November at 8:00pm on ITV. In this episode historian Bettany Hughes and Ben Robinson use aerial photography to take a look at the Antonine Wall.

Meanwhile, those of you considering taking ‘The Norman World’ at Loughborough in the spring may wish to take a look at ‘Secrets of the Castle’, which starts on Tuesday 18th November at 9.00pm on BBC2. In this series, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold turn the clock back to learn the skills of medieval castle builders.

New British Archaeology app

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archaeology, Archaeology Data Service, Britain, iPad, technology

If you have an iPad, you may be interested in a new app called ‘Archaeology Britain’ that has been produced by the Archaeology Data Service. This is free and available to download from the iTunes App Store.

The description states: ArchBrit app presents the archaeology of some of Britain’s most important sites in an accessible manner. The app combines interesting content held by the British Library with contextual records from Archaeology Data Service (ADS) to construct unique visions of some of Britain’s favourite archaeological sites. Much of the apps content has been curated in an attempt to show uncommon and rarely seen perspectives of the sites and monuments.

I haven’t had a go with it myself yet, but the screenshots look good. I’d be interested to receive feedback from anyone who does have a go with it. Is it useful? Is it worth recommending to others? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.