Everyone has dreamt of finding buried treasure in their garden or allotment.

Could that shiny something you pulled out of the earth with your muddy spuds be part of a Viking sword or an ancient Roman coin?

Is that bone your dog found last week all that remains of a long-lost Saxon king?

Probably not, but it was this sense of excitement and curiosity that attracted people of all ages to present their treasure at an archaeological finds day at Brighton's Booth Museum of Natural History.

Ten-year-old Isaac O'Riordan, from Hurstpierpoint, brought fragments of pottery to the Dyke Road museum, which were dated to the 1600s.

But the find of the day was a marble head bought in by Rossalyn Kisserli, from Brighton.

Laura Burnett, Lewesbased finds liaison officer for the Sussex Archaeological Society never becomes tired of seeing weird and wonderful discoveries.

She said: "My job is to record archaeological finds made by members of the public.

"So people who are gardening, farming, walking their dog and find something historic out in the fields, I record.

"They can bring things to me to have them identified and also, if they are older, to record them so we help build up a picture of the history of Sussex.

"We've had quite a few people through the door today.

"Lots of people with pieces of flint, some with more natural geology and so on.

"The most interesting find we had was a very large carved marble head. Although it copied a Roman or Greek statue it was more likely to be Victorian.

"It was found on the Downs near a cemetery so it was probably from there.

"A young boy brought in some pots he found in his garden, the earliest of which was probably 1600, so it was of a reasonable age."

Paula Wrightson, the museums learning officer with Brighton and Hove City Council, said: "I'm really pleased with the turnout and I'm particularly pleased because it's an opportunity to talk about archaeology and particularly the archaeology of Sussex."