Saturday 25 June 2011

Behind the scenes with the Staffordshire Hoard

BURIED away deep within Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a room which houses scenes which could come straight from a CSI police show.

Working there, with the diligence of forensic experts, are archeologists and conservators, cleaning, cataloguing and studying the breathtaking 3,500 piece collection which makes up the Staffordshire Hoard. These modern day time detectives are using a mixture of the latest technology and Mother Nature to try to solve its many riddles. Neil Elkes reports

THERE was a eureka moment when conservator Deborah Magnoler realised that there was something familiar about the ancient gold cylinder decorated with garnet stones she was cleaning.

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