Crash Course In Archaeology At The British Museum

An excellent course from start to finish. Our guide was passionate and attentive, and he made sure everyone had a chance to follow along and understand. He kept things engaging throughout and answered every question with patience and real knowledge. If he ever runs a different tour, we'll definitely join. I hope he writes a book one day, because he has a rare talent for telling stories!!!

We had such an interesting day and our guide Rossa Minogue was so knowledgeable. I'm used to experiences being quite short but we were there with the guide from 10am when the museum opens until 3pm, there is a half an hour break for lunch and a short break in the afternoon but apart from that we were with the guide hearing interesting information with plenty of opportunities to ask questions. I highly recommend this experience.

Our guide went above and beyond to share some select exhibits in the museum from an archeologists point of view. It was an informative look at pieces I may not have given a second glance at had it not been for him. He clearly enjoys telling others about the collection. I have a bad knee and he accommodated my limitations by taking the elevator and providing a stool. More clarity on which corner to meet at would have been helpful. But he was reachable by phone.

Absolutely great day out. The guide was knowledgeable, enthusiastic and has put together a well thought out tour of the history of humanity. Would absolutely recommend

Such a brilliant day and a great introduction to archaeology. Rossa is incredibly knowledgeable and clearly passionate about the subject, which made the whole course fascinating from start to finish. There was so much to take in, but it never felt dry or overwhelming. I came away having learned a lot, but also with a long list of things I now want to read and learn more about, probably the best sign of a really good course! Would absolutely recommend it to anyone curious about archaeology.

Rossa's Tour of the Museum and commentary on the birth of humanity and our navigation through time and across the world was beyond facinating. He is a highly articulate and extremely knowledgeable Archaelogist, Historian and Raconteur - and a jolly nice chap too. 100% recommend.

Very in depth and we learnt a lot! Loved it. It was a full day experience, run by an expert and we would recommend. It went from the stone age up to modern archaeology, very interesting.

The crash course in Archeology is an informative tour through the British Museum highlighting archeologists discovery through time. The guide was personable and knowledgeable. While the tour focused on a handful of artifacts I would recommend saving time at the end to do some exploring on your own.

A studied archeologist giving a marvellous presentation! Tripadvisor instead forcing you to install the app and giving your data: without it’s not possible to get to know the meeting point! Thanks to the tour guide, who managed it well :)

Excellent tour w/ our guide Rossa, who has great archeological experience & encyclopedic knowledge. His bullet points were backed w/ volumes of knowledge, awesome.

This is a long tour (5.5 hours) so wear comfortable shoes and bring water! Rossa is personable and very knowledgeable so the time flies by. It's a great insight into archaeology and also the development of civilization.

My son was given a ticket for two on this Spirit of Discover tour of the BM and it was fantastic. Our guide Rossa Minogue absolutely knew his archaeology and history backwards, and for the items he specially picked out, told us all there probably was to know. For anyone interested in history or archaeology this is an absolute must - you will not be disappointed.

This was an extremely interesting tour spanning a vast amount of time. This is for a more nerdy/academic audience and goes into great detail about archaeologist methods, key moments in archaeology history and some of the important people and artifacts behind them. The guide is an expert on the area and able to answer challenging questions. The tour is long with only short breaks so make sure to pack snacks and water, also you will be on your feet for many hours so wear good shoes. I highly recommend for anyone wanting an in-depth and highly educational tour. I especially loved that he saw the importance of the British Museum as an institution.

What a fascinating tour we experienced with Rossa Minogue. 5 1/5 hours of informed and extensive archaeological knowledge delivered in an engaging and interesting manner. Peppered with artifacts which demonstrated the points he was making, we walked only a small section of the huge museum, but it didn't feel like we needed to see more. We were engrossed and the time flew by. There were 13 of us on the tour, which was a good group size. Be warned though, not many sitting opportunities.

The best archeological tour I have ever had. British Museum itself is a gem but being guided by Rossa was an incredible experience. He talks with passion, has a great knowledge and what’s more, he knows how to pass it on. The tour was almost 6 hours but it wasn’t enough!

The tour was really informative and very engaging. So much to think about and so much to see. Hearing about the exhibits was so much more satisfying than simply reading the plaques.

Rossa was incredibly knowledgeable, and a very charismatic speaker who keeps you engaged over the 5.5 hours - the time flew by! For anyone with an interest in history/ancient history/archaeology, I'd highly recommend!

We so enjoyed this amazing tour with Rossa Minogue today. His tour is unique as he combines a huge and extensive archaeological knowledge with brilliant presentation skills. We were entranced by his great storytelling - everything was so interesting, Rossa held our undivided attention for the whole tour. Rossa also gave us lots of insight into what it means to be an archaeologist. Rosso’s tour was well balanced, well paced, with lots of opportunities for questions and consideration for comfort breaks etc where needed. We can’t recommend Rosso and his tour highly enough.

A wonderful way to wander through the British Museum. Our guide was excellent and created a compelling and comprehensive narrative through human history. Highly recommended.

The best tour ever. Five hours absolutely flew by. Highly recommended.

An outstanding tour led by a passionate archaeologist. The arch of time covered was brought to life by Rossa’s knowledge, enthusiasm, the British Museum's collections and some extras from his bag.

I am still full of excitement from going on this tour today. If my history lessons had been like this at school i would have flown. Absolutely fascinating talk from Roosa who brought so much to life. I absolutely cannot recommend this enough.

I was gifted this tour and was delighted with this gift. Rossa is incredibly knowledgeable and interesting and I learned so much about the ancient world and beyond. Highly recommended

A really super activity. Rossa is a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide and a great story teller. He kept us fully engaged throughout and I don't remember the last time I learnt so much, so enjoyably, in one day.

A fabulous entertaining and educational day out! Rossa is an exceptional guide, with an abundance of enthusiasm and enormous knowledge of his subject. Our tour was carefully selected to lead us through civilisation over the ages and it really was enthralling. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and can highly recommend it. When we entered the museum we had the chance to pick up a lightweight folding stool to carry round and I found it very helpful.

Brilliant tour of the British Museum - Rossa is incredibly knowledgeable, super passionate about the subject, and a great storyteller. Captured our attention completely for the whole day. Highly recommended!

This tour was a Christmas present for me and my son, and it was a fantastic choice. Rossa was an amazing tour guide, picking out key exhibits and talking brilliantly about how they illustrate life in ancient civilisations and what they show about archaeology. He answered every question really thoughtfully and shared information so well - I wasn’t sure how well my teenager would concentrate on a busy Saturday, but he kept us enthralled throughout. Would highly recommend this tour and will probably repeat it again.

My 11 year old daughter (who is an archaeology enthusiast) and I went together for this tour. It was a pleasure to experience it: it was interactive, engaging and authentic; it provided us with his knowledgeable insight and his captivating enthusiasm. The information was very thorough and at times focused on particular important archaeologists’ findings but at the same time embedding them into a more broader context of a timeline. We really enjoyed it and would like to do more tours with Rossa. We also can’t wait for his podcasts as they will be surely very engaging as the tour and will be on a par if not better than the Rest is History ones 😊

I loved listening to Rossa’s explanation as we looked at each exhibit. He is very passionate about history and it really came through in his explanation. I learnt more from him than in all the history lessons I have taken. I highly recommend this tour to anyone who is interested in history!

My Son & I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. Rossa is an engaging guide who is super-knowlegeable, and his enthusiasm for archaeology is quite contagious. It's worth noting that this not primarily a guided tour of the museum. It's more a series of talks about archaeology, structured around the development of human civilisation. Great for history nerds who are probably already familiar with the British Museum.

Amazing experience seeing the museum with Rossa. We had two young kids who were engaged the entire time! Have been to the British museum many times but still felt we were seeing it for the first time.

Absolutely amazing tour of the British Museum! Loads of good history and archeological information and education. Helpful tip to anyone considering this tour.... if you're a first time visitor to the British Museum and interested in covering ALL the highlights - this tour is not for you. However, if you've already been to the BM before, or interested in quite a bit of history and archaeology information told through some fascinating storytelling. And you want something more than just "seeing 20 objects in 1 hour", then I think you might very well enjoy this tour!

Just spent a wonderful day at the British museum with Rossa as a guide. Very knowledgeable guide with interesting stories bringing to life artefacts and archeology. We loved it and it was well worth the cost. Definitely grab a stool though xxx

I had an absolutely wonderful time with Rossa's tour today - I'd consider it a must-do for anyone who: A) has an interest/passion in seeing the development of human civilisation through the lens of its greatest empires artifacts B) is interested in how the British Museum actually amassed its almighty collection, and who wants to see the history behind the history of iconic artifacts like the Rosetta Stone + Elgin Marbles. Rossa has a deep knowledge and passion for the subject which comes through strongly in his presentation - I have been to the British Museum many times in my life but this visit was the time I felt closest to the history on display due to this.

I really enjoyed Rossa’s Crash Course in Archaeology at The British Museum. We started with the first hominids and their tools, through hunting-gathering times, to the beginning of agriculture, first villages, town and cities and the development of early written languages (Sumerian and hieroglyphics), continuing to the best of ancient Egypt, Greece and Roman Empire. We then went into the Anglo-Saxon times and the Dark Ages with glimpses into the Renaissance that was to come. For each iconic moment in the development of civilisation we were standing next to an artefact from the period (a stone tool, Sumerian clay tablets, Ramesses’ colossal granite stone bust, the Parthenon Marbles, the Sutton Hoo helmet to name a few) making this course the nearest thing to a time travel machine! We also looked at the science and some of the methods used to put a date (always approximate) to the finds and artefacts (stratigraphy, context, carbon dating, coins and pottery providing a useful time marker). All very interesting! Rossa is a likeable and knowledgeable guide and a great story teller who is obviously passionate about what he does. The tour is long (5.5 hours including lunch and coffee breaks). However, Rossa shared so many surprising stories about the people who discovered these treasures and the codebreakers who deciphered the ancient languages, that the time flew by and it was soon time to go. Highly recommended!

This was a really interesting day. Rossa was a gifted storyteller with a wide breadth of knowledge. The unique quality he has was the in-depth explanation of the science and history of archaeology. He weaved interesting information about how artifacts were found and the stories of who found them. He talked through how ancient languages were decided. If your interest in not just the history of humanity but the history and science of archaeology this will be the experience for you.

Our guide, Rossa, and his archeology background made this tour so unique and brought the history of the artifacts alive. He pointed out artifacts and their importance to human history that I would have walked right past without a glance. I wish there was an entire museum spread out, multi-day version of this tour! Don't let the duration scare you, he gives breaks along the way.

Brilliant experience! Rossa was an amazing guide and knew so much he was able to weave brilliant stories of human history. We even played the oldest known board game, so cool. Both my mother and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day

Had a very good experience with Rossa, learning about human history. Rossa was full of fantastic knowledge. We also got to see the most famous features at the British Museum. Would recommend for any history lovers for sure!

Rossa is an absolutely fantastic guide, and a gifted storyteller. He took our small group on a vivid chronological journey from flints and stone axe heads, to the Lewis Chessmen and Sutton Hoo, via the origins of agriculture, writing, and social order with Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Saxons... On the way there were gobsmacking facts, amazing insights and exciting stories of human endeavour. We started at 10am and finished at 4pm, with half an hour for lunch - and it flew by! We absolutely loved it. This has to easily be the best guide to the treasures in the British Museum. One tip: at the beginning Rossa suggested we may like to grab a portable folding stool provided by the British Museum to use as we went around. This proved essential. If you don't relish standing up from 10am to 4pm (apart from at lunch), then I recommend you take advantage of these free-to-use stools. Do it! Take the tour! You’ll love it!

We had an absolutely fabulous day being guided through human history by Rossa. He was so friendly and knowledgeable and you felt at ease asking questions without feeling stupid. He uses certain parts of the museum to tell the storey so admittedly you don’t get to see all of the museum but as we’ve been many times before this wasn’t a problem plus you’ve plenty time after to go and see any bits that you want to see. It’s a definite must if you are visiting London and have a spare day, we 100% recommend.

Brilliant walk through time, fascinating stories and a deep knowledge of different periods. Felt very special to have learnt from a master!

It was an amazing experience. Rossa is an engaging guide, very knowledgeable and an excellent communicator. This tour is more in-depth than regular tours, including both highlights and lesser known objects displayed in the British Museum, but also fascinating stories about the people who originally created and used the objects. You learn about the way archaeology works, what archaeologists go through and the challenges they face. This tour makes you want to know more about archaeology and allows you to better appreciate objects that have survived the passage of time. I highly recommend it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this tour! I could have listened to him for hours more. It was entertaining and thought-provoking. Anyone interested in archaeology would love this.

Can not recommend this enough. Rossa our guide was first rate. Knowledgeable personable and made full on day very enjoyable. The tour is well organised and excellent value for money. Many thanks

Rossa provides an engaging and thoughtful tour through the British Museum, unlike any museum tour I've taken. He frames the story of human history from our early ancestors, to the dawn of civilization, all the way to the start of modern Britain. He does this by telling gripping stories of each artefact -- how they were found, who found them, and their significance in our world. My partner and I learned a great deal from Rossa, and would highly recommend to anyone visiting the British Museum.

I bought tickets for this fantastic tour online in advance for me and my Mum, which was easy. Guide Rossa was prompt and professional, super knowledgeable and patient with our questions. We so appreciated him going ahead with it even for a small group and learnt heaps from Rossa! Big thanks and hats off!

Probably best for folks who have already experienced the museum. Loved the detail and context setting narration of our very knowledgeable guide but with so much to experience it was hard not to want more time to explore.

10/10 this was an amazing tour, as a bit of a history nerd I learnt so many new and interesting things from the amazing guide. My wife now wants to learn how to read hieroglyphics because of this tour! Honestly if you are a big history fan, or if you know relatively nothing about ancient history this is such an amazing tour to go on. With not only just a focus on the "greatest hits" like Egyptians, Romans and Greeks but a focus on so much more of what came before and after them! With insight from a trained archeologist, we are just waiting for more tours to become available before signing up.