Community Exhibition: Unearthing History

Community Exhibition with Zigzag Days

Temporary Exhibition: October 2025 – January 2026.

This temporary exhibition presents the outcomes of a year-long project, exploring Roman pottery through hands-on engagement, creative practice, and archaeological research. Part of the Magna Project, this work brought together local participants from Zigzag Days, a community group supporting isolated and vulnerable adults, with the Roman Pottery team from Nigrum Pullum, a Roman fort in the Netherlands and the residents of adult care facility Ipse de Bruggen in Zwammerdam.

Group at each of these Roman Forts have come together to investigate how Roman pottery can deepen our understanding of the ancient world.

Exhibition Highlights

• Replica Roman pottery created by participants using ancient techniques, led by Potted Histories.
• Roman pottery sherds from the Magna excavations, washed, processed, and studied by Zigzag Days.
• Archaeological drawings demonstrating how pottery is recorded and interpreted, showing the process from excavation in the trench to display at the Roman Army Museum.

This project has offered participants from Zigzag Days the chance to engage directly with Roman material culture, contributing to the identification and care of our ancient pottery collection.

“This project was interesting, educational, enjoyable.” – Zigzag Days Member

This temporary community exhibition is included in your museum admission ticket.

Zigzag Days was launched in 2018 to support isolated, vulnerable, and/or unemployed adults—filling the gap between youth clubs and older people’s coffee mornings. Many Zigzag members face challenges related to disability, mental health, or physical health. The project offers a wide range of activities including:

• Creative workshops and construction

• Social outings to places of interest

• Interaction with local experts and residents

• Archival research
  

Nigrum Pullum was a Roman Limes fort located in the modern village of Zwammerdam, Holland. Today, The Nigrum Pullum ad Vitam Foundation aims to bring the glorious past of Nigrum Pullum and the original site of the unique six Zwammerdam ships to life, making them attractive to the public and residents of Hooge Burch.