Key Dates
The museum was founded in 1938. In 1966, the museum and its contents were donated to the public by Alexander Keiller’s widow.
Wiltshire
United Kingdom
Key People
Alexander Keiller was an English archaeologist and businessman who excavated at Avebury in the 1930s, and re-erected many of its fallen and buried stones.
The Alexander Keiller Museum documents the history of the nearby prehistoric stone circle of Avebury, in particular archaeological excavations that have taken place there. It’s housed in an old 17th century stables and threshing barn.
Most of the exhibits date from the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods, although there are also a few Anglo-Saxon items. Perhaps the best-known display in the museum is that of a 5,000-year-old skeleton, unearthed on Windmill Hill. Named Charlie, and thought to be a 4-year-old female child buried affectionately as if she had been put to sleep, the skeleton has been the subject of some controversy.
In 2006, the Council of British Druid Orders chose Charlie as a test case in appealing to English Heritage for prehistoric human remains to be-buried where they were found, out of respect for the dead. After a lengthy public consultation, the Druids’ appeal was rejected in April 2010, and it was decided that the skeleton would remain on display at the Alexander Keiller Museum.
The museum collection also includes much of Keiller’s correspondence and a library which houses an extensive collection of archaeological publications, accessible by appointment.
Key Dates