Behind the scenes at the British Museum – in pictures

The Townley Caryatid, a pentelic marble Caryatid on the south stairs of the museum.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Artefacts including a Mexican Day of the Dead sculpture in their new home at the British Museum Archaeological Research Collection storage and research facility near Reading.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

A worker carries out building maintenance on one of the British Museum’s buildings.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The triangular pediment (originally the gable end of a temple) above the main entrance to the British Museum

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The plant room in the basement of the museum.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Remains of ancient Sudanese people in storage at the British Museum.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

A member of the British Museum’s recovery team handles an ancient cameo.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Workers at a service area deep inside the British Museum.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

At the ancient Greece and Rome galleries.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

An unexpected sign.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Human remains of people who had leprosy in storage at the British Museum.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Gems tracked down by the museum’s recovery team, with their accompanying cast impressions.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The recovery team at work.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The recovery team at work.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The new British Museum storage facility near Reading, waiting to be filled.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Artefacts packaged in the new storage facility near Reading.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Smaller artefacts are numbered and recorded at the new storage facility.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The ancient Greece and Rome galleries.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Greek and Roman artefacts in their storage boxes.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Workers build the storage units at the new facility near Reading.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Adelaide Dawkins, an assistant collection manager, documents a cast of a classical sculpture.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Marble sculptures from the Parthenon’s west pediment in Athens on display in Room 18 of the British Museum. The sculptures date from 438–432 BC.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Hoa Hakananai’a, a large stone moai from Rapa Nui (Easter Island).

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

A service area deep within the museum.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The British Museum’s recovery team at work

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

A Egyptian sarcophagus and human remains in storage at the museum in Bloomsbury.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Lucy Anne-Taylor, an assistant collection manager, inspects the Stratford Shield, a Roman marble copy of the shield from the gold and ivory statue of Athena at the Parthenon.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The interior of the British Museum’s Great Court.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The Parthenon sculptures.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The British Museum’s Egyptian sculpture gallery.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

A corridor in the department for Britain, Europe and prehistory.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The Burton Agnes drum, a 5,000-year-old cylindrical chalk sculpture found uncovered in the burial site of three children.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The boilers in the bowels of the British Museum.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The ancient Greece and Rome galleries.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The British Museum’s recovery team examine artefacts.

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian