Shark Teeth
Piecing together the past along an ever-changing coastline
Archaeology Collection
The Felixstowe Museum Archaeology Collections spans several millennia of life and communities in this region of Suffolk and East Anglia. Displays includes relics from the natural world as well as everyday items that provide clues to domestic life from as far back as Paleolithic times.
The Archaeology Collection is located in the Trewick Room within the historic Ravelin Block.
When mammoths & dinosaurs roamed Suffolk…
Long before Felixstowe was a formidable fortress against invasion, a fashionable Victorian and Edwardian resort or the vibrant seaside town as we now enjoy it, the earth’s oldest creatures roamed the ‘Colneis Peninsula’.
The Colneis Peninsula is home to today’s Felixstowe, the hamlet of Felixstowe Ferry and the villages of Falkenham, Kirton, Trimley St Mary, Trimley St Martin and Walton.
What’s more, we have some stunning objects in our Archaeology Collection to prove it!
Here’s a flavour of what’s in store & more
We thought we’d share just a small selection of interesting artefacts from our Archaeology Collection to whet your appetite…
Ancient Stonework
Ancient Wheat
Mammoth Tooth
Mysterious Tablet
Romanesque Stone Head
Samian Bowl
Ancient Pottery
Fascinating ancient finds by the spadeful
Look out for the huge mammoth tooth found at Landguard Point – it gives you an idea of the ginormous scale of these elephant-like creatures which once inhabited this area.
We’ve got fossilised dinosaur poo too ! Known as coprolite, it is found in abundance throughout the estuaries and hinterland of the peninsula.
Learn how coprolite helped to grow Suffolk’s economy and made some local landowners and industrialists wealthy.
Treasures from our Roman settlers
Thousands of years after prehistoric creatures became extinct, this peninsula was occupied by the Romans.
Ancient roof tiles and building material fragments provide clues to their buildings constructed here. These included a fort, now submerged beneath the waves on Felixstowe’s northern beach. The coins, pots and jewellery that the Romans left behind give us insight to their daily lives.
So important were many of the early Roman finds in the Felixstowe and Walton areas that they have been shared with other museums. However, Felixstowe Museum is proud to retain an important collection of first to fourth century Roman artefacts.
What other Felixstowe Museum collections will you dig?
