Over the last two weeks, the Museum has been hosting a group of teenagers who are part of the Young Graduates for Museums and Galleries Scheme. We have had Helen Etheridge and Dominic Coyne working with us on various tasks. They have been absolutely brilliant and we would host them again. Maybe they will end up working here one day. Below, Helen and Dominic write about their experience at the Museum. Thanks for all your help.
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When applying for a place on the Young Graduates for Museums and Galleries scheme I had no idea of the wealth and diversity of information I would come across. These two weeks have been invaluable and have included a whole variety of experiences, ranging from studying medieval jewellery to examining Egyptian limestone under a scanning electron microscope. I could never have imagined such a wide-ranging experience of museum life and have benefited hugely from this.
For the initial two days of the placement I worked with the Portable Antiquities Scheme which records archaeological objects found by members of the public in both England and Wales. This is extremely important as it advances current knowledge of the history and archaeology of England and Wales, makes objects more accessible and raises awareness of the true extent of information that can be learned from these objects .Our first task was to search EBay for any objects which could be counted as treasure. In 1996 the Treasure Act was passed and meant that any object that is at least 300 years old and is at least 10 per cent by weight a precious metal must be counted as treasure. There are many other points which the object must comply with and if it it turns out to be treasure then the object is property of the Crown. When we found such objects on Ebay the details were placed in a database and the seller was notified about the Act and what steps they needed to take. Although we did not always find many objects it was interesting to see what kind of archaeological objects people were trying to sell and how many were trying to avoid the Treasure Act.
PAS has to produce an annual report of all the finds which have been recorded. We helped to input the relevant images of the Neolithic, early Medieval and Roman periods and they are to be used by the designers who are going to put the report together, matching the images to their descriptions.
We spent the following week in the science department which was extremely enlightening, particularly as I am not currently studying any science subjects. It was interesting to see how science is used in the museum and how the science that you learn in the classroom can be applied to many different situations. Each day we were able to learn about and witness the use of different scientific machinery such as the photographic microscopes, scanning electron microscope and the Xray diffraction technique. I particularly enjoyed studying the different types of Egyptian limestone so as to work out why the Egyptians chose limestone from different quarries to use for stelae due to their individual properties. While in the science department we were set the task of recording flint tools found in excavations in Tell es-Sa‘idiyeh, having already been taught how these tools were created from an original core and what purpose they may have once had.
Our final week began with a tour of the conservation department which took us through conservation such as that of stone, paper and organic objects. We returned to PAS for the rest of the week and carried on with our original tasks. Towards the end of the week we were both given cameras and took photos of treasure acquired through the scheme in gallery 49, most of this being from Roman Britain. After labelling and writing information about our photos they were put on www.flickr.com where they can be viewed by the public as well as on the Portable Antiquities Scheme website.
Overall this has been an amazing experience and has given me an insight into the true extent of work that is done behind the scenes at the museum.
Helen Etheridge – Coloma Convent Girls’ School
As a student on the Young Graduates for Museums and Galleries I was lucky enough to be able to work with the Portable Antiquities Scheme and Treasure and the Conservation, Documentation and Science Department at the British Museum. 
I started with a week with the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) with Dr. Michael Lewis, the deputy head of the department and Daniel Pett, the ICT adviser.
The department deals mainly with the public face of British archaeology, helping to further public education on archaeological matters and to help enforce the Treasure Act which enshrines the legal status of ancient gold and silver objects found in Britain.
My first task was directly related to the enforcement of the Treasure Act, searching EBay for items of treasure that had possibly been found by accident or by metal detectors and whose finders are unaware of the terms of the Act by which any gold or silver items over 300 years old had to be reported to the coroner in case a museum wishes to acquire it. Our first taste of treasure was the Harrogate Hoard, a newly found 617 Viking silver pieces of jewellery and coins in an engraved silver bowl.
After spending a short time in PAS we moved to the Department of Conservation, Documentation and Science. Here, working with Dr Caroline Cartwright and expert on analysis of organic materials where we were introduced to her work on tel-es-Sa’idiyeh, a Canaanite settlement in Jordan. we were also introduced tot the methods that the department use to analyse objects in the Museum’s collection such as electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence and x-ray diffraction (which can be used to find the elemental make up of objects).We were also involved in a project aiming to identify the quarry sites of Ancient Egyptian limestone used to make Stele in the British Museum’s collection.
After a week in the Science Department we moved back to PAS where we were involved in the production of the department’s annual report. We also took pictures of items of treasure on display in the Museum and these were then uploaded to the Flickr photograph website and now appear on the Portable Antiquities Scheme website www.finds.org.uk.
I really enjoyed myself in the departments and I was made to feel very welcome by all members of staff. I already had an interest in archaeology and the placement here confirmed that I would enjoy a career in the subject . I would definitely come back to the department if invited. The British Museum is fascinating to see from the inside as the polished façade and public galleries gives way to a warren of store rooms, offices and laboratories, among the highlights being the Asian conservation studio with its bamboo floor and temple like atmosphere and the Organic conservation studio, a converted Egyptian gallery containing the mummies and sarcophaguses not normally on display to the public.
I would recommend the programme to anyone who has never experienced the inner workings of a museum and wants to see the wonders of the ancient world up close and without the glass in the way.
Dominic Coyne – Wallington County Grammar School
Early in the summer of 2007, Kate Sutton (London FLO and Community Archaeologist) and the LAARC (London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre) team set up a community excavation in the playground of the Michael Faraday Primary School, Southwark.
Emily White, a young archaeologist from Hereford, recently found three flints whilst out fieldwalking. She reported these to the Finds Liaison Officer (FLO), 
Emily’s Neolithic flint (
