By Viviane Horne

Last week Portland Museum ran its annual archaeology festival, so this month we have two young volunteers’ stories.

Penelope Bentham was born in Lewisham, London. Her mum was a musician and her dad is a retired GP.

Her grandfather was Robert Bentham, a geologist who worked on Ellesmere Island, Canada, with Ernest Shackleton’s son in 1934-1937.

The Polar Museum at the Scott Polar Research Institute displays a polar bear skin deerstalker hat and an elaborate sealskin bag made by Robert and donated by the Bentham family.

Part of Goding Bay’s rock formation in Greenland is named Bentham after Robert, who ‘correlated Thule beds between Ellesmere Island and Greenland’. An esteemed ancestor indeed.

Penelope loves literature and was studying English at Durham University in 2020 when covid struck. Meanwhile her parents moved to Portland.

She left the course after a year, switching to Aberystwyth University to study geography. Continuing studies at Aberystwyth, she has just completed a master’s degree in international relations.

A European history museum in Brussels (she did a dissertation on European Identity) and her love of the British Museum, inspired her to volunteer on Portland.

Penelope says she has such broad interests, she’s undecided about what comes next. Maybe a PHD or visits to siblings abroad, maybe a job in a museum. Her ideal job would be creative writing.

She likes that Portland is slightly cut off, as if it’s in its own little world. Tout Quarry reminds her of an episode of Dr Who and she loves the chalk dust everywhere and chalky puddles.

Jack Durie was born in Bristol and grew up in Yeovil. His parents fell in love with Portland (Jack says the island has that effect on people) and moved there in December 2024. He always loved history and geography and as a ‘dinosaur kid’ wanted to be a palaeontologist.

He remembers his nan was fascinated by ancient Egypt. It wasn’t until he was 18 that he thought he could actually do it seriously.

Studying technology at Yeovil College, he realised he hated computers. He took a year out then in 2022 began a BA in archaeology at Bournemouth University, encouraged by his mum.

Each summer Bournemouth Uni has training digs for students at Duropolis, a site in Winterborne Kingston being continuously excavated. The site is of European importance, once occupied by the Celtic Durotriges who followed a ‘matrilocality’ (women centred) tribal system.

DNA testing proved this to be the first identified in European pre-history. So far 16 Iron Age huts have been excavated.

In April 2026 Jack conducted a geophysical survey of the Weston archaeological site on Portland using ground penetrating radar (GPR) for his dissertation. He discovered another possible medieval structure. His research was on display for the festival last week at the museum.

Volunteering there has given Jack an appreciation of museums – he likes informing people of archaeology they may not be aware of.

On Portland much has been destroyed and finds lost, many residents have no idea, for example the large cemetery where now just Nicodemus Knob is left. During quarrying, bones were thrown into the sea and artefacts left the island, never to be seen again!

Jack says his interest is people in history and he would like to do more digs and continue with archaeology.

He likes that Portland is ‘quirky’, charming and full of character. It’s semi-isolation has helped create a strong community feel.

He loves the history, the views, that he can see the Jurassic coastline from his room. He thinks there are possibly fewer opportunities for young people, though he is quite happy to sit and read!