People have been hoarding objects for thousands of years.

People still do it today, but its origins lie in prehistory. This was very common in the Bronze Age (around 3000 years ago) when people collected items, such as weapons and tools, and buried them in pits and ditches. 

Hoards may contain only three or four objects, or up to fifty or more. The largest Bronze Age hoard currently known in Britain contains over 6500 objects! Many hoards have been found in Wales recently and reported through the Portable Antiquities Scheme Cymru. This greatly adds to our understanding of prehistoric Wales.

Most recently, the Trevethin hoard from Torfaen has caught media attention, containing three axes and two spearheads. Other hoards have recently been found in the Vale of Glamorgan, Carmarthenshire, and Monmouthshire.

Buried objects include swords, spears, axes, and ingots of raw metal. Sometimes these objects were buried complete and pristine, while others were deliberately broken, burnt and bent before being put in the ground.

Many questions surround this practice.

Why were so many objects buried?

Why were some objects broken, while others were left intact?

Were hoards for religious purposes (e.g. as an offering)? Or did they act as stores of raw material that were lost?

It’s unlikely we will ever truly know the answers to these questions, and there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach. However, archaeologists can speculate based on how and where the hoard was buried and by comparing it to known historical periods in which hoarding was also practiced.

For instance, many hoards in Roman and Medieval times were deposited for safe keeping, during times of unrest. Meanwhile, objects deposited on hilltops or in rivers may have been symbolic markers within the landscape.

We can also think about what people do with objects today.

Some people collect objects for a hobby, such as stamps, coins, or shot glasses. Sometimes it’s for a specific purpose, such as preserving heritage – museums are an excellent example of this.

Similarly, items might be destroyed or discarded for a variety of reasons, such as eliminating a memory, commemorating the death of a friend or family, or simply as waste. Of course we can’t forget that sometimes objects might simply be lost.

Whatever the reason, hoarding formed an important tradition in Bronze Age Wales. With every new discovery, archaeologists get one step closer to understanding prehistoric ideas and values.

The Trevethin hoard is one of several hoards that was responsibly reported through the Portable Antiquities Scheme Cymru. It is now proudly on display at Pontypool Museum where it can be enjoyed by all members of the public. It was acquired with funding from the Saving Treasures: Telling Stories Project. More details on how the hoard was investigated, as well as a conversation with the finder, Gareth Wileman, can be found here.

Whether you love L. S. Lowry, Lucian Freud or Richard Long, you know that when you visit Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales you can always see outstanding examples of international modern and contemporary art. What you might not know is that a significant part of that collection is here thanks to The Derek Williams Trust, which lends Amgueddfa Cymru over 260 of its most important works of twentieth and twenty-first century art.

This week sees the launch of The Derek Williams Trust website, a fantastic resource for anyone interested in exploring this collection. The site will enable you to search for art works and artists, and discover more about the Trust and its work with Amgueddfa Cymru.

Derek Williams was a Cardiff-based chartered surveyor and art lover, who had a particular interest in mid-twentieth century British art. He collected a large number of works by John Piper and Ceri Richards, which were supported with works by major figures such as Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, David Jones, Ivon Hitchens and Josef Herman. Following Williams’ death in 1984, his collection and the residue of his estate were left in trust. Since that time, The Derek Williams Trust has undertaken the care, enhancement and public display of the collection, and in turn lends the collection to Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. The generous support of Trust has transformed the Museum’s collection of twentieth century art and parallels the great bequests of French Impressionist art made by Gwendoline and Margaret Davies a generation earlier.

Since 1992, The Derek Williams Trust has also been working with Amgueddfa Cymru to build its own collection of modern and contemporary art, and recent purchases include work by Howard Hodgkin, George Shaw, Anthony Caro and Clare Woods. The Trust also provides financial support for Museum purchases, and funds the biennial Artes Mundi Derek Williams Trust Purchase Award – recent recipients include Tanja Bruguera, Ragnar Kjartansson and Bedwyr Williams.

For the latest news from The Derek Williams Trust collection, why not follow us on Instagram and Twitter?

Dyn wedi ymddeol, Dawns Perchnogion Car MG, 1967. D.U. ALBAN, Caeredin. © David Hurn/MAGNUM PHOTOS

Mae Amgueddfa Cymru wedi derbyn rhodd anhygoel gan y ffotograffydd Magnum, David Hurn. Mae Hurn yn un o ffotograffwyr dogfennol mwyaf dylanwadol Prydain. Ac yntau bellach yn byw ac yn gweithio yma yng Nghymru, mae wedi dychwelyd at ei wreiddiau Cymreig – ac yma y bydd ei gasgliad o ffotograffau’n aros diolch i’w rodd hael.

Mae’r casgliad yn rhannu’n ddwy ran, sef tua 1,500 o’i ffotograffau ef ei hun sy’n cwmpasu ei yrfa o dros drigain mlynedd fel ffotograffydd dogfennol; a thua 700 o ffotograffau gan ffotograffwyr eraill o’i gasgliad preifat. Wrth sôn am ei rodd, dywedodd Hurn:

“Fy atgofion gweledol/diwylliannol cynharaf yw ymweld â’r Amgueddfa pan oeddwn i’n bedair neu’n bump oed. Dwi’n cofio’r cerflun drwg – y Gusan gan Rodin – a chasys yn llawn stwff oedd pobl wedi ei roi. Wel, bellach mae gen i gyfle i dalu rhywbeth yn ôl – bydd rhywbeth gen i yno am byth. Mae’n fraint o’r mwyaf.”

Detholiad Diffiniol o Waith Oes

Dros y ddwy flynedd ddiwethaf, mae David wedi bod yn dewis ffotograffau o’i archif ef ei hun sy’n ddetholiad o waith ei oes. Mae’r casgliad o tua 1,500 o brintiau newydd yn cynnwys gwaith a wnaed yng Nghymru, Lloegr, yr Alban, Iwerddon, Arizona, Califfornia ac Efrog Newydd.

Mae’n cynnwys rhai o’i ffotograffau enwocaf, fel Dawns y Frenhines Charlotte, Barbarella a Grosvenor Square.

Fodd bynnag, ei ffotograffau craff a gofalus o Gymru yw prif ffocws y casgliad. Yn dilyn rhodd hael David, Amgueddfa Cymru yw ceidwad y casgliad mwyaf o’i luniau yn y byd.

D.U. CYMRU. Dinbych y Pysgod. Y promenâd yn nhref glan y môr Dinbych y Pysgod, De Cymru. 1974 © David Hurn/MAGNUM PHOTOS

Casgliad Cyfnewid

Drwy gydol ei yrfa hir, mae Hurn wedi bod yn cyfnewid llun am lun â’i gyd-ffotograffwyr, llawer ohonynt yn gydweithwyr iddo yng nghwmni Magnum.

Mae’r casgliad pwysig ac amrywiol hwn o tua 700 ffotograff, sydd hefyd yn dod i law’r Amgueddfa, yn cynnwys gweithiau gan ffotograffwyr blaenllaw’r 20^fed a’r 21^ain ganrif.

Yn eu mysg mae Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eve Arnold, Sergio Larrain, Bill Brandt, Martine Franck, Bruce Davidson a Martin Parr, Bieke Depoorter, Clementine Schneidermann a Diana Markosian. Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eve Arnold, Sergio Larrain, Bill Brandt, Martine Franck, Bruce Davidson a Martin Parr, a ffotograffwyr sy’n dod yn amlycach megis Bieke Depoorter, Clementine Schneidermann a Diana Markosian.

Bydd detholiad o ffotograffau o gasgliad preifat David yn cael eu harddangos am y tro cyntaf yn Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd o 30 Medi 2017 ymlaen. Bydd Llun am Lun: Ffotograffau o Gasgliad David Hurn yn lansio oriel ffotograffiaeth newydd yr Amgueddfa.

Casgliadau Ffotograffig yn Amgueddfa Cymru

Mae casgliadau ffotograffau Amgueddfa Cymru’n unigryw am eu bod yn cwmpasu cynifer o feysydd a phynciau, gan gynnwys celf, hanes cymdeithasol a diwydiannol a’r gwyddorau naturiol.

Mae hefyd yn cynnwys ffotograffau pwysig iawn, fel rhai o’r ffotograffau cynharaf i gael eu tynnu yng Nghymru gan y ffotograffydd arloesol John Dillwyn Llewelyn a’i deulu. Bydd rhodd David yn gweddnewid casgliadau ffotograffiaeth yr Amgueddfa ac yn creu cyfleoedd cyffrous i ehangu’r casgliadau mewn ffyrdd newydd.

UDA. Arizona. Sun City. Grwp ffitrwydd y tu allan ben bore yng nghymuned ymddeol Sun City. Ras can metr 50 eiliad i bobl rhwng 60 a 94 mlwydd oed yn y Senior Olympics. Roedd teimlad o hwyl a chymdeithas i'w deimlo'n gryf yno. 1980. © David Hurn/MAGNUM PHOTOS

Bydd yr arddangosfa yn Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd yn dilyn cyflwyniad o waith David Hurn yn Photo London, y digwyddiad ffotograffiaeth rhyngwladol a gynhelir bob blwyddyn yn Somerset House, Llundain. Wedi’i churadu gan Martin Parr a David Hurn, mae arddangosfa Photo London, David Hurn’s Swaps, yn dathlu pen-blwydd Magnum Photos yn 70 oed.

The Voices from the Archives series is based on recordings in the Oral History Archive at St Fagans National History Museum. Connected to the agricultural activities, demonstrations and displays at the Museum - they provide an insight into the lives and histories of farming people, the agricultural practices in the past, how they developed into contemporary agriculture.

Lambing in Pembrokeshire, 1984

March is lambing time at Llwyn-yr-eos Farm, the Museum’s working farm. Lambing in the past and present was described by Richard James, Portfield Gate, Pembrokeshire, south west Wales, in a recording made in 1984. Aged 79, he recalled lambing in an interview about his life in farming, but also described how it was being done on a farm in the area in the year of the interview. The following short clips are from the recording.

Pembrokeshire born and bred, Richard James had farmed at Lambston Sutton in the south west of the county. It stood between the large county town of Haverfordwest a few miles to the east, and the coastline of St Bride’s Bay to the west. The lowland coastal areas, warmer climate and lower rainfall made agriculture more diverse than in many other parts of Wales, with the keeping cattle and sheep and the growing of early potatoes and cereal crops. The coastal areas could be exposed to the winds and rain from the Atlantic Ocean though, and weather conditions could strongly influence lambing, to which Richard James refers in the first clip:

When lambing was to take place was decided by when the ewes were put to the rams. Up until then the rams on the farm had to be kept separate from the sheep. It was always a concern that rams might break through a poor fence or hedge and cause lambing to start at the wrong time. Also, a ram of poorer quality or a different breed from another flock could also result in poorer quality lambs and reduced income. After mating, a ewe is pregnant for between 142 and 152 days, approximately five months or slightly shorter.

In this clip, Richard James describes at what time of year lambing took place on a local farm, and how it was being done by a farmer using a former aircraft hangar.

The final clip is about working the day and night shifts:

Rydym ni wrth ein bodd bod USA Today wedi nodi bod 'Mwydod! Y Da, y drwg ac yr hyll' yn un o'r 'arddangosfeydd gorau yn Ewrop y gaeaf hwn', felly dyma weld beth yw barn ein hymwelwyr am y sioe:

@wpduk #wpd 1st week in Wales. No school placement yet so went to @Museum_Cardiff. Loved the worm exhibition! pic.twitter.com/wFpo2kt7po

— Olwen Ringrose (@olwenringrose) November 17, 2016

@wpduk enjoyed the Wriggle exhibition today. Love an opportunity to dress up #wpd pic.twitter.com/XwM2wwkXLb

— Rhoss Adams (@therealrhoss) October 30, 2016

@Museum_Cardiff @wpduk we enjoyed learning about the worms in the wriggle exhibition #wpd pic.twitter.com/hdvz2pr27l

— Rhian Jenkins (@rhirog) November 17, 2016

Mae Mwydod! yn arddangosfa i bob aelod o'r teulu, a cewch ymweld â'r sioe am ddim yn Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd. Mae digon o gyfleoedd o wisgo lan, i archwilio a mwynhau - yn ogystal â gweld llwyth o fwydod rhyfeddol.

Mae croeso cynnes i chi ymweld â Mwydod - am ragor o wybodaeth, ewch i'n tudalen ddigwyddiadau. Fe welwn ni chi'n fuan!