A NATIONALLY important project to save more than 100 Bronze Age ceramic pots some of which were found in Avebury has now been completed.

The ceramic pots which are between 3,000 and 5,000 years old were discovered near Stonehenge, Ave-bury and other significant sites in Wiltshire.

The conservation work is ground-breaking and it is the first time such techniques have been used in the UK.

Repairs carried out by the Victorians and later generations used an unusual range of materials, including cement, terracotta plant pots and bicycle spokes. These repairs had started to fail and urgent work was needed.

The 105 vessels included in the project form part of the Bronze Age ceramics collections at Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum and Wilt-shire Heritage Museum, Devizes. The project cost just under £200,000.

Other funding came from Wiltshire County Council, the two museums involved, the L J Skaggs and Mary C Skaggs Foundation, USA, the South West Museums Council and the American School in London.