A chance to see objects from the ancient world is available at the Clunes Bottle Museum, with a display of artefacts ranging from the time of Alexander the Great through the Punic Wars to the Empire of Rome.
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Clunes historian John Sayer has helped prepare the exhibition, which opens next week, and says it's an opportunity to see not only Roman items, but a variety of other ancient tools and weapons, including prehistoric flints and Bronze Age axes.
"It's a exhibition, a small display, of a variety of artefacts, which include early Roman phials and rings, also some rather interesting Stone Age stuff, a number of flint arrowheads," Mr Sayer told The Courier.
"There are also early bronze axe heads (perhaps replicas), and various types of bottles, which by the size and appearance seem to be consistent with early Roman perfume bottles, quite small. And there are some examples of early oil lamps. If you've seen archaeological films? The oil lamp is like a little dish."
Mr Sayer is well known for being a historian of the Goldfields region and Clunes, but is supporting this exhibition at the former South Clunes Public School No.136, which is made up from the private collection of Steve Greenwood, president of the committee of the bottle museum.
Mr Greenwood has spent time building his collection by purchases from overseas and has made it available for display. The museum hopes to attract schools from around the region to see the artefacts and learn about the exploits of Alexander, who conquered most of the known world and died at the age of 32, and the Punic Wars, a series of widespread battles between Rome and Carthage.
"Even though it's only a small display, it is of great interest," says Mr Sayers.
"We'd like to see the Clunes schools like Wesley come and see this, but also further afield, from Maryborough and Ballarat."
The exhibition opens on February 7.