: People's Postcode Lottery

Rwyf newydd gychwyn fy mhedwaredd wythnos fel Prif Guradur Adeialdau Hanesyddol yma yn Sain Ffagan, a dyma fy mlog cyntaf. Archaeoleg yw fy nghefndir, ac yn bennodol, archaeoleg arbrofol.

Mae’r math yma o ymchwil archaeolegol yn arbrofi’r syniadau sydd wedi tyfu fel canlyniad o waith cloddio archaeolegol. Yn y bôn rydym yn trio codi rhywbeth a fyddai yn gadael yr un tystiolaeth a ddarganfyddwyd, os cloddiwyd yn y dyfodol. Mae hwn yn herio ein syniadau a codi mwy o gwestiynau.

Tai Crwn o'r Oes Haearn

Dros y blynyddoedd rwyf wedi adeiladu pedwar tŷ crwn wedi seilio ar archaeoleg cartrefi Oes yr Hearn. Gan bod yr archaeoleg yma yn gallu bod yn fâs iawn (ond rhyw 30cm o drwch), mae pob elfen o ail-greuad uwchben y ddaear wedi’i seilio ar waith dyfalu – ei hun wedi seilio ar y dystioilaeth sydd wedi goroesi. Fel allech ddychmygu, mae gweithio allan strwythur adeilad sydd heb yw weld mewn 2,000 o flynyddoedd yn eitha sialens, ond un boddhaol. Felly, mae gen i bleser mawr i fod yn rhan o gyweithiau arbrofol newydd yr Amgueddfa - ailgreuad o ffermdy o Oes yr Haearn, wedi ei seilio ar dystiolaeth o Fryn Eryr yn Ynys Môn, a neuadd ganoloesol Llys llywelyn, wedi ei seilio ar dystiolaeth o Llys Rhosyr, eto yn Ynys Môn.

Mae tô y ffermdy yn cael ei doi gyda gwellt ar y funud, ag yn fuan mi fydd y tŷ yn ddiddos. Mi fydd hwn yn rhyddhâd mawr gan bod glaw trwn dros y Gaeaf wedi atal y waliau clai, 1.8m o drwch i sychu mor gyflym a gobeithio. Mae waliau o glai yn gymharol anarferol gan taw waliau gwial a dŵb neu cerrig sydd wedi eu darganfod gan amlaf. Hwn fydd yr ail-greuad cyntaf o dŷ crwn o’i fath.

Llys Rhosyr - Llys Canoloesol

Mae waliau y ddau adeilad sydd o’r Llys mor uchel a fy mrest, ac mae’r saer maen yn barod i gychwyn y fframau ffenestri. Fe ddarganfyddwyd y Llys yn Ynys Môn, ac fe’i gloddiwyd rhwng 1992 ag 1996. Mae’r waliau cerrig ond yn sefyll ryw fetr o daldra. Felly, yn yr un modd a’r ffermdy, ail-greuad wedi seilio ar dystiolaeth archaeolegol yw hwn.

Mae hanes ysgrifennedig o’r cyfnod, fel ‘Brut y Tywysogion’ yn awgrymmu fod neuadd frenhinol yma, a fu yn un o Lysoedd Llywelyn ap Iorwerth yn ystod hanner cyntaf y drydedd ganrif ar ddeg. Y peth dydyn ni ddim yn gwybod gyda sicrwydd yw pa olwg oedd ar y neuadd. Mae’r wybodaeth yma wedi ei seilio ar gymhariaethau gyda neuaddau Brenhinol eraill, ag adeialdwyd yn yr un cyfnod, fel a welid yng Nghastell Conwy a Phalas yr Esgob yn Nhŷ Ddewi.

Gan fy mod yn bwriadu ysgrifennu blogiau cyson ynglyn a’r datblygiadau diweddaraf, fe wnaf anelu hefyd I amlinellu y gwaith sydd wedi digwydd hyd yn hyn, felly fydd genych fwy o syniad ô’r adeilad hynod yma, ac ein ymgeision i ddod ar Llys yn fyw unwaith eto.

Last year Staff from the Departments of Natural Sciences, and Learning, Participation and Interpretation took their I Spy…Nature themed pop-up museum out into the community. This year we have been delivering I Spy…Nature related workshops throughout March as part of the I Spy…Nature Exhibition outreach programme. Workshops at National Museum Cardiff allowed members of the public to carry out fieldwork within the museum, bringing the outside in! Visitors were able to explore the miniature world of British Slugs and Snails, go pond dipping, explore a rocky shore (utilising our brand new portable 3D Rocky shore) and go worm charming with our OPAL Community Science officer. During the middle part of March, staff ran a series of school workshops both at National Museum Cardiff and within a local primary school, where pupils could explore the seafloor, Fossils and Minerals before trying their hand at scientific illustration with a local artist.  The aim of these sessions was to inspire children to explore their natural environment and also to give them a chance to experience the work that museum scientists do. For British Science and Engineering Week, staff held an I Spy…Nature Open day in the main Hall at National Museum Cardiff, with a plethora of specimens from our collections and even a giant lobster, fly and squirrel!

 For more information on the I Spy…Nature activities see our Storify Story.

Museum scientists were out and about during half-term week, when the I Spy…Nature pop-up museum paid a visit to Fairwater Library on 30th October.  Curators from the Botany, Invertebrate Diversity and Palaeontology sections took along specimens from their collection areas to show the public, along with a microscope and quizzes to encourage them to look even closer.

Ingrid Jüttner challenged people to identify as many trees as they could, using beautiful displays of freshly-pressed leaves and fruits.  This activity was a big hit with grown-ups, and it was very pleasing to see so many parents and grandparents encouraging children to learn more about these important plants, which bring our living spaces to life.

The library’s meeting room became temporary home to an impressive array of marine and mollusc specimens from the Invertebrate Diversity section.  People were fascinated by the creatures on display, which evoked a range of reactions (including ‘they’re really gross!’) depending on how they felt about slugs and worms!  Teresa Darbyshire showed some of the diversity of life found around our shores, with beautiful sea shells, lobster, starfish, and a pickled octopus and giant sea worm.  Visitors tried their hands at identifying shells using a key, all good training for trips to the beach!  Ben Rowson challenged people to identify mystery objects under the microscope, and introduced them to slug identification using his recently published book and life-like models.

Lucy McCobb showed visitors a range of fossils from different periods of the Earth’s history, ranging from an Ice Age mastodon tooth and horse’s leg bone, through Jurassic ammonites and ichthyosaur bones, to trilobites, which are among Wales’s oldest fossils.  The ‘what’s in a name?’ quiz was popular with children, and asked them to use the meanings of scientific names to match up the name with the correct fossil.

This was I Spy..Nature's  first venture into libraries, and showed that they have great potential as venues for taking the Museum’s collections and experts out into communities.

Visitors to our I Spy….Nature pop-up museum at the Capitol Shopping center over the summer were given the opportunity to enter a drawing competition, using our museum specimens as inspiration for their artwork. Nine winners were chosen in three age groups, winning Natural History prizes from the museum shop. As part of the prize, all winners were offered the opportunity to have a special tour behind the scenes at the museum. Several of the prizewinners have already been to visit us and the rest will be visiting us over the next few weeks. All of the winning entries can be viewed here. 

Museum scientists have been popping up in the Capitol Shopping Centre throughout the summer with their I Spy…Nature pop-up museum. Natural Sciences staff spent 9 days there with a variety of specimens from the Museum’s collections. Every day had a different theme from shells, to fossils, plants and minerals to name just a few. The public were able to ask our curators questions and find out about our new exhibition at National Museum Cardiff (I Spy…Nature), which is open until April 2015. We ran a drawing competition alongside the pop-up with some fantastic entries. We have chosen winners in three different age categories and they will be visiting us at the museum to have special tours behind the scenes and to claim their prizes. The winning entries will be posted on-line in the next few weeks. 2437 people visited us on the stand, which is a fantastic figure. Next we will be popping up at Fairwater Library on the 30^th October and visiting 10 schools throughout the autumn.