Tens of thousands of historical artefacts are undergoing meticulous recataloguing and repackaging at Northern Ireland’s archaeological storehouse. The state-of-the-art, climate-controlled facility in County Antrim recently doubled its capacity following a major refit.
While only a small proportion of items from archaeological digs reach public display, the rest are preserved and stored here. This centralised store was established by Stormont’s Historic Environment Division (HED), consolidating collections previously housed across the region.
The facility is full of rare artefacts, from flint spearheads to a seven-metre, 4,000-year-old log boat found near the River Bann. Many of the items were unearthed decades ago, when cataloguing and storing practices were very different from modern day standards.
Archaeologists based at the store are now working to address these issues after a new set of guidelines for preserving artefacts was introduced earlier this year. Curatorial archaeologist Sapphire Mussen said standards for artefact care in Northern Ireland were previously not as high as those implemented in the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
“The standards of practice naturally do change with time and unfortunately we’ve fallen behind a little bit here,” she said. “We’re no longer in line with other jurisdictions, but we have made massive strides to change that.”
Ms Mussen added that researchers from around the world have sought access to the storehouse, with recent visitors from America and Scotland examining items such as glass beads from an early medieval site. “It gives validity to what we hold if they are accessed and used,” she said.
