Dr Mick Wysocki examining one of the Preston Dock skulls at the Harris Museum

On Wednesday a free lecture by UCLan expert Dr Mick Wysocki will take place in the Discovery Room at the Harris Museum & Art Gallery.

Dr Mick Wysocki is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Archaeology & Anthropology at the University of Central Lancashire’s School of Forensic and Investigative Sciences. His specialism is the analysis of human skeletal material from all periods. He has undertaken and published research on British Neolithic, Bronze Age, Roman, and Anglo -Saxon human skeletal remains, and has appeared in the Channel 4 series ‘Back from the Dead’, fronting documentaries on Roman Gladiators in York, Crusaders in Israel and Samurai Warriors in Japan.

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In 2010 Dr Wysocki began working on a large group of human skulls in the Harris Museum collection that were found during the building work for the Preston Dock in the 1880s. The skulls had been the subject of extensive research by experts at Liverpool John Moore’s University and selective carbon dating revealed several dated to the Stone Age. In light of this evidence Dr Wysocki was keen to look at them more closely.

Emma Heslewood, Curator of History said: “Dr Mick Wysocki spent several days examining all the skulls in detail for signs of age, sex and cause of death. Some intriguing clues as to the possible date of the untested skulls also emerged. Mick’s work also helped us develop a display in the Discover Preston gallery which explores 5 of the skulls in more detail. The talk will be a fascinating insight into the analysis of these intriguing remains, and is not to be missed”.

To find out more about Dr Wysocki visit his UCLan webpage

Date: Wednesday 5 February
Time : 2pm
Venue: Discovery Room, Discover Preston Gallery, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Market Square, Preston, PR1 2PP (5 minute walk from Preston train station)

Admission: Free. The galleries accessible to wheelchair users.
No need to book. Just turn up.

The Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston is one of the leading museums in the North West and features contemporary art, fine art, decorative art and historic collections of national significance.

Located in the heart of Preston in a stunning Grade 1 listed building, it hosts a wide range of exhibitions and events and is fast gaining a reputation for its innovative and ambitious contemporary arts programme. The Harris is a major tourist attraction, welcoming over 220,000 visitors per year.

The Discover Preston gallery and Discovery Room opened in 2012 ahead of Preston’s Guild celebrations and includes an events and activity programme supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

More information can be found at the Harris events page:

Facebook: HarrisMuseumAndArtGallery

Twitter: @Harrispreston

If you go to Dr Mick Wysocki’s talk then let us know what you thought of the event in the comments