- British Museum for kids tour led by an archaeologist or anthropologist
- Includes hands-on, interactive activities for children
- British Museum
Please note: The Rosetta Stone will not be on display in the permanent exhibition of the British Museum until Spring 2023.
Located in the beautiful Bloomsbury neighborhood, the British Museum holds one of the richest and most eclectic public art collections in the world. From the Rosetta Stone, to the lion hunt, to the king's palace at Nineveh, the museum is packed full of artwork that can enhance your family's understanding of the ancient world. Our walk begins just outside the museum, where we'll learn how it was founded and how the passion for collecting is still at the core of this incredible institution today. From here we'll go inside and, using fun educational tools, pick a theme or a particular civilization and follow its development throughout time. We may, for instance, focus on the development of scripture from cuneiform to hieroglyphic to our modern alphabet, using tools like the Rosetta Stone and other ancient inscriptions. We'll also make sure to include a visit to the Egyptian mummies and the Parthenon marbles and, depending on the children’s interests, may also focus on the development of civilization in England.
Note: In order to plan the best possible experience for your children, it would be helpful for us to know some background. Have they traveled to other countries in the past? If so, where? Have they studied any subjects in school that would relate to the walk? Are they interested in art, music, even food? The more you can tell us, the better.
FAQ
Lawrence travelled and excavated extensively in Israel, Jordan and Egypt before attending the University of Durham where he studied archaeology. He specialised in ancient human remains during his Masters' at Liverpool University Medical School, followed by a year of travel and excavation in the UK and Africa. He won a scholarship to attend University College London, where he wrote his Doctorate on ancient populations of the Western Mediterranean basin and the Canary Islands. He currently lectures at Birkbeck College, University of London. He carries out research at London's Natural History Museum and spends several months each year working on a major archaeological project in Peru. He is also connected with excavations in Egypt, Bolivia, California, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Spain, where he works with a forensic unit recovering the fallen from the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War. In addition to his research, he has interests in the classical world, ancient Assyria, geology, palaeontology, twentieth century art history and the history of London.
Helena Meskanen is an archaeologist, with a PhD from King's College London, where her research focused on ancient Spartan religion and archaeology. As a field archaeologist, she has worked in Greece, Italy, Israel, Scotland and her native Finland, and loves talking about the challenges, possibilities and realities of fieldwork. She has lived in London for 9 years, and finds the city's endless layers of history fascinating. From the British Museum to Roman London, from the Great fire of London to the shiny modern skyscrapers, there is always an interesting corner or an alley to explore.
Allison grew up hearing her grandmother's stories about her native Cairo, and her childhood fascination has turned into a lifelong love of history and archaeology. She has an AB and an MA in Middle Eastern archaeology and is hoping to begin her PhD soon. Her particular interests include feminist and queer studies, contact between empires, and the human-dog relationship through history; in a previous life she was a Latin teacher and still loves working with young people. For the last two years she has worked at the British Museum - the first place she ever visited in London - and has recently developed her own specialised tour on women in the Museum.
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