Archaeology and the discovery of lost civilisations
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Buried treasure brings to mind treasure maps marked with an X, and hidden hoards of gleaming gold. This online exhibition is about a very different sort of buried treasure - the kind uncovered by archaeologists.
Most of the artefacts in this exhibition have come from archaeological sites, carefully removed from out of the ground, sometimes found in tombs or graves, other times discovered in long hidden buildings or streets. Archaeological finds are the imprints of real people who walked, talked, laughed and fought just like we do, but who cannot tell us directly about how they lived their lives. Archaeology enables us to reach out across thousands of years, to hold real objects made by ancient peoples, and feel just a little of what it might have been like to live in their times.
Whether the finds are simple and plain, or richly decorated, they represent a type of treasure which has an enduring value, because these artefacts hold the key to our past.
