Gallery to display artefacts from 600,000 years ago

Objects have been labelled ready for the new gallery at Maidstone Museum

A new archaeology gallery is being prepared to open at a popular Kent museum, it has been announced.

Objects dating back more than 600,000 years will be on show, from the earliest type of humans hunting animals with stone tools in a forested landscape, Maidstone Museum said.

Lives in Our Landscape, which tell the story of how people have lived "over a vast span of time", is due to launch at the museum on 5 June.

Natalie Moor, museum manager, said it would be displaying "wonderful artefacts which tell us so much about our past”.

An interactive touchscreen map will also allow visitors to explore what has been unearthed in the borough of Maidstone.

Visitors will be able to take part in hands-on activities, handling objects and trying on costumes and interacting digitally and physically with the collections.

Ms Moor said: “The gallery will transport people through time and allow them to imagine how a person lived thousands of years ago."

The museum is a free attraction owned and run by Maidstone Borough Council.