NEARLY 200 visitors enjoyed a conference focusing on the People of the Heath project which saw some of the early Bronze Age burial mounds on Petersfield Heath excavated by archaeologists and volunteers.

Held in Petersfield Festival Hall the free day-long conference included 14 talks by speakers from across the UK and Europe who had been involved in the project, overseen by Petersfield Museum.

A museum spokesman said: “This four-year project focussed on the remarkable but little-known prehistoric monument complex dating back to the Early Bronze Age, between 2200 and 1500 BC.

“The large group of burial barrows has seen no active research since it was mapped in the 1930s and there is no record at all of any past excavations.

“Yet it is one of the most impressive and diverse barrow cemeteries to have survived in south-east England, boasting at least 21 barrows of five or six different types.”

The welcome at the conference on Saturday, March 24, was given by Petersfield Mayor Jamie Matthews, and then lead archaeologists Dr Stuart Needham and George Anelay gave presentations.

The two worked with teams of volunteers excavating the barrows, as well as looking at the area’s wider historical and geographic context.

The conference also looked at how the excavations developed and some of the specific finds and the behind-the-scenes processes, such as cleaning, dating and preserving the finds.

After lunch, guest speakers from Historic England, the University of Reading and the University of Leiden, helped to put the cemetery in context.

Museum trustee Wayne Robertson rounded off the day looking at the legacies of the project now that the excavation work is finished, and all that it still hopes to achieve.

From Tuesday, June 12, to Saturday, November 24, Petersfield Museum will be hosting a special exhibition looking at the results of the project, including some of the finds.

For more information on the exhibition, and the project, contact the museum curator Katherine Mills on 01730262601 or email [email protected] or visit the museum website www.petersfieldmuseum.co.uk