Presenting Prehistory: Exploring the impact of prehistory-based projects at Tullie House Museum
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 13/12/2019

Since prehistory became part of the curriculum in 2014, there are been an increased interest in the topic from both children and adults. Many museums have responded to this by creating new and innovative learning opportunities and enhancing displays.
At Tullie House we have begun a large-scale prehistory project which involves a complete collections review, a gallery redisplay and a regional conference. These collective projects have highlighted the different ways in which our prehistory collection has been previously curated and, in light of renewed public interest, how we are shaping a new approach to this period.
This paper will examine a broad range of opportunities and challenges which has affected how we currently present and engage with this highly vast and complex period. These include exploring how local archaeological excavations have been used to inspire our visitors, how being a regional and northern museum affects how we market prehistory to our visitors, how the changes to the curriculum has affected our education offer, how the Romans have particularly influenced our display of prehistory, how we are advocating for our prehistory collections and the importance we are placing on interdisciplinary networking.


Elsa Price, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust


Speaker biography
Elsa joined Tullie House in April 2018 as the Headingly Trust Curatorial Trainee for Archaeology. In this role she took custodianship of the archaeology collections leading on related galleries, collections care, research and advocacy. Stand out aspects of Tullie House’s archaeology collections include: Cumbrian prehistory, Roman material from the western side of Hadrian’s Wall, the Viking cemetery of Cumwhitton and collections relating to the Reiving history of the local area. 
As of December 2019 Elsa will be taking up the permanent position of Curator of Human History which will include caring for both the archaeology the social history collections. In this new role Elsa will not only be caring for the collections but also meeting new sector challenges such as contemporary collecting and digital preservation.