SOME of the UK’s top archaeologists will gather at the Oxfordshire Museum to help explain the hidden secrets behind a rare Iron age mirror on display.

The artefact, which was found by a metal detectorist in Didcot, went on display at the museum in Woodstock this week.

The collector tried to export it to the United States but the British government stepped in.

It was then offered to the museum, who had to raise £33,000 by September this year from grants and donations to buy and house it.

Experts including Oxford University’s Emeritus Professor of European Archaeology, Sir Barry Cuncliffe, and Senior Research Fellow and Head of Materials Science-based Archaeology, Dr Peter Northover will host a special study day on February 7 to investigate the 2,000 year-old mirror.

David Moon, Curator of Archaeology for Oxfordshire Museums service said: “We’ve got some of the biggest names in British archaeology.

“I think it’s unknown for a museum to host an event of this kind. We want to make sure that everybody gets the chance to to see the mirror and do things to promote it as much as we can.”

The study day will help unravel some of the secrets behind the mirror.

Some archaeologists believe the object may have had a ritual significance as well as a physical use.

Mirrors were often found in Iron Age graves with the polished side facing towards the face of the deceased – which may have signified contact with the spirit world.

Mr Moon said of the unique find: “This is the county museum and represents the whole county so it’s such a fantastic find.

“It shows people living in the past weren’t Philistines or degenerates, they were sophisticated people and skilled craftsmen and artists.

“It really gives us a positive and visceral link to the past.”

Of the £33,000 raised to keep it in the county, the Victoria and Albert Museum gave £10,000, a further £10,000 was raised from grants and the Friends of the Oxfordshire Museum collected more than £5,000.

Mr Moon said: “I would like to thank everybody who donated, it really was a substantial amount of money.”

Subjects covered in the study day will range from archaeometallurgy to sacrifice and ritual, taking in artistic design and social structures along the way.

There will also be a contribution from Oxford Archaeology, which will describe and discuss recent excavations at Great Western Park in Didcot.

The museum has also commissioned a short film about the mirror, which will eventually be shown beside it in the museum.

Tickets cost £25 (£20 concessions). Call 01993 814106.

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