University X-rays Reveal Artefact Secrets

A new collaboration between the University of Suffolk and Colchester + Ipswich Museums Service is uncovering new secrets for special objects in Ipswich Museum’s collection – including one dating back 200,000 years.

The University’s Senior Lecturer in Diagnostic Radiography, Christopher Cobb, invited a team from Colchester + Ipswich Museums Service to bring a variety of carefully selected items from the museum’s collection to be X-rayed in the University’s state-of-the-art radiography suite.

The items included 200,000 year-old steppe mammoth vertebrae excavated from the Maidenhall area of Ipswich, an Anglo-Saxon fighting knife known as a seax from Belstead, as well as spears, a taxidermied corncrake, a doll and an Egyptian mummified cat.

On July 4, Dr Simon Jackson (Natural Sciences Collections and Learning Curator), Carrie Calver (Conservation Assistant) and Tim Rousham (Museum Assistant) joined the University’s radiography team to X-ray the items, which unearthed a host of new secrets for the objects.

The museum is set to publish the full results at a later date, but early findings revealed that the mammoth may have had an illness that could have severely impacted the last years of its life, while on the Anglo-Saxon fighting knife they found an intricate pattern that would have once been visible on the surface and indicated it was a knife held by someone of high status.

Elsewhere, the taxidermied corncrake provided insight for the museum team to help aid future conservation, as well as a broken bone in its leg which may have occurred during its death or afterwards, while the doll X-ray displayed its internal structure including the pull mechanism for opening and closing its eyes.

Dr Simon Jackson, Collections and Learning Curator at Colchester + Ipswich Museums, said: “X-ray analysis is a powerful tool to help us look beneath the surface of our objects and into their very fabric and nature. Although the technology has been around now for several decades, recent advances in X-ray technology allow far more detail to be seen.

“The results of the tests at the University of Suffolk clearly show the potential of this technology in helping us to more fully understand them. Undoubtedly more secrets are locked away in our collections waiting to be discovered.”

Christopher Cobb, Senior Lecturer in Diagnostic Radiography at the University of Suffolk, said: “It was wonderful to see this collaboration has uncovered some new secrets for these fabulous artefacts – some of which date back hundreds or thousands of years, and we look forward to seeing the publication of the full results of this study in due course.

“The University has signed a civic university agreement, pledging to be a force for good in our communities, and inviting the team from Colchester + Ipswich Museums into our high-quality radiography suite is just one of the ways we can deliver this community impact.”

Joining Christopher for the collaboration were Diagnostic Radiography lecturers Nancy Sims – who helped optimise the images and record them for future viewing – and Charlotte Wright (who trained as an archaeologist before becoming a radiographer), who provided expert guidance on appropriate projections and interpreting the results.

Councillor Carole Jones, Ipswich Borough Council’s portfolio holder for Planning and Museums, added: “We’d like to thank the University of Suffolk for allowing our teams to use this state-of-the-art technology.

"Using X-ray analysis will continue to help our curators and conservators to make discoveries about the artefacts in our collections and give us a better understanding of their past and unravel their hidden secrets for us to share with our visitors. I’m excited to see what our teams may discover!”

To find out more about Colchester + Ipswich Museums Service and its collections, visit the website here: Home - Ipswich Museum.

For more information on studying Diagnostic Radiography at the University of Suffolk, visit the course page here: BSc (Hons) Diagnostic Radiography | University of Suffolk (uos.ac.uk)