Context (Field collection)
The Archaeological Journal entry notes that the beaker was 'found some years since with other pottery at March, in the Isle of Ely, in the ballast pit worked at the time of the construction of the Peterborough and Ely branch of the Great Eastern Railway, and a short distance north of the March Station. The urn was not found in the gravel, but in the soil overlying it; a tree was growing near the spot' (p. 364). This would presumably make the date of its discovery around 1846/1847.
Event Date 1846
Author: Imogen Gunn

Context (References)
The Archaeological Journal notes that the beaker was 'presented to the Ely Museum by Mr. W. Rose'. It was exhibited to the Archaeological Institute by Mr. Marshall Fisher, Curator of the Ely Museum.
Event Date 1862
Author: Imogen Gunn

Context (References)
(1862). 'Antiquities and Worlds of Art Exhibited (July 4 1862)'. The Archaeological Journal, vol. 19. pp. 364-365.
Event Date 1862
Author: Imogen Gunn

Context (References)
Jewitt, L. (1870). 'Grave-Mounds and their Contents: A Manual of Archaeology'. London: Groombridge.
Event Date 1870
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)

Context (References)
Miller, S.H. and S.B.J. Skertchly. (1878). 'Fenland: Past and Present'. London: Longmans. pp. 463-465
Event Date 1878
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)

Description (Physical description)
'The March Beaker', handled, much incised decoration, no trace of roulette.
Event Date 1922
Author: maa

Context (References)
Fox, C. (1923). Archaeology of the Cambridge Region. p. 26-27. Pl. I no. 2.
Event Date 1923
Author: Imogen Gunn

Context (References)
Clark, J. Grahame D. (1938). 'Early Man'. The Victoria History of the County of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. Salzman, L.F. (ed). Vol. 1. p. 263.
Event Date 1938
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

Context (References)
Thomas, Stanley. (1965). Pre-Roman Britain. Studio Vista: London. fig. 90.
Event Date 1965
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

Context (Analysis)
In late July 2015 Sara Brown, Curator of the (current) Ely Museum, wrote the following in regards to the previous museum: 'In 1842 the Ely Mechanic's Institute was established and this building housed their meeting rooms and library. The Institute's librarian, Marshall Fisher, lived in the building. Mr Fisher was an amateur scientist and enthusiastic collector and he curated a museum of his collections in the building until his death in 1899 at the age of 92.'
Event Date 23/7/2015
Author: Imogen Gunn