Bronze Age urn goes on display in museum

An urn which dates back more than 3,000 years to the Bronze Age has gone on display.

The ceramic vessel is on loan from Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery and is in Newton Abbot Museum, Devon.

Experts said it had been found in a ditch on the northern edge of Newton Abbot and the clay could have been sourced from the River Lemon in Devon.

Museum curator Joanna Eccles said: "The people who buried this urn are the ancestors of today's Newtonians and it is fascinating to reflect on how different life was here 3,000 or even 3,500 years ago."

The urn weighs 2st 6lbs (15.5kg) and traces of bone were found inside which could have been used as a burial container.

Eccles added: "Because it remained in one piece for so long, it is believed it was placed into a hole cut into the ditch feature.

"We cannot be certain why this urn was placed here but complete vessels found within landscape features are known from other sites and are often significant."

Visitors can see it at the Newton Abbot Museum from Tuesdays to Saturdays and admission is free.

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