Fish and Ships

About

This exhibition celebrates twenty years of archaeological discoveries made on the Severn Estuary Levels and illustrates some of the rich evidence for our maritime past.

The Mesolithic people who once lived in seasonal camps at Goldcliff, Newport 6,500 years ago made and used tools of stone, wood and antler. Excavations have revealed where they made their tools, butchered and processed animal carcasses.

What was dry land in Mesolithic times became submerged by rising sea levels. Waterlogged conditions have preserved a wide range of organic objects that would not normally survive on dry-land sites. Some of the finds from this work will be displayed in this exhibition for the very first time.

Seas and rivers have acted as connecting highways through time. In Prehistoric times, small boats navigated around the coast and up the Severn and its tributaries, moving goods and people along the route.

For over six thousand years, boats and ships of different shapes and sizes have sailed the coast of Wales, linking it to England, Ireland and further afield.

Some became victims of storms and calamity at sea. Others, like the medieval Newport ship, were deliberately abandoned on riverbanks. Rare discoveries like these can provide windows on life at sea at different times.

The River Severn has the second largest tidal range in the World. Tides and storms frequently reveal long buried traces of settlements, boats and ships as well as evidence for biodiversity and food in antiquity.

Muds, clays and peat beds have preserved fragile evidence for many thousands of years. These deposits are waterlogged, preventing the decay of wood and other plant remains.

Some of the wooden fish traps found on the Severn Estuary have been radiocarbon dated to medieval times. People have been fishing along the changing coastline of the Severn Estuary for many thousands of years however.

Come to the Museum to see the 6,500 year old finds from Goldcliff, a medieval fish basket and one of the timbers from the medieval Magor Pill boat. We will also be displaying some 13,000 year old decorated fishing implements found in caves in France in the area of the Origins gallery devoted to World Cultures.