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Detective work on fossils, pot sherds, and volcanic stones

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There is a story behind everything and we had some good ones today at Roman Circus House. Once we had all introduced ourselves and described our interest in history and archaeology, we had some unusual fossils, pot sherds and masonry fragments to examine, identify and date. Illustrated here is one of them. Brought in by a new member. She had found it and other animal bones, when she was walking on the beach with her grandparents after shopping earlier this year. The shopping was removed from the bags to accommodate the bones. This one, illustrated, counts as a fossil as it is 120,000 years old. It belonged to a bison and is a metacarpus. It was found on the mud when the tide had receded after very high winds whipped up the high tides and eroded the coast.  Some interesting pieces were brought in by the widow of an archaeologist and historian. She explained that she had discovered them clearing out drawers, cupboards, and jacket and trouser pockets. She has found a plethora of pot sherd
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Colchester YACs go on site at Fordham

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 Armed with their own trowels and kneelers, Colchester Young Archaeologists' Club found Roman brick and tile fragments and pottery sherds on an extensive Roman site in farmland in the village of Fordham. There are views from the site across the countryside to the City of Colchester. Colchester Archaeological Group has been digging on the site for ten years now and it keeps us all guessing as to the extent of it and its purpose. Roman dwelling was our first thought. or perhaps, being a three mile walk from Colchester, it was an inn. Masses of Roman tesserae have been excavated, many bone hair pins, an elaborately carved bone box. Archaeologists found evidence of a water feature/fountain The site is likely to continue well beyond the boundary (above). They put the spoil in buckets and learned how to sift it, from the manager of the site. They washed what they had found, after being alerted to bring old toothbrushes to wash out the grooves. One young man, inadvertently dropped the pie
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We explore a Roman site deep in the Essex countryside

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 Our host today was interested in archaeology from the age of 4. His father had been walking in one of their fields, when he picked up a Roman tile with a dog paw print on it. On investigation, and several years and unexpected pot and sink holes later, father and son discovered there had been an extensive Roman settlement on the site. What they discovered indicated the sophistication of life nearly two thousand years ago. Our group were good at identifying the artefacts on display and answering the questions posed to them in the museum. In the picture, above, the young archaeologists are standing on the site of a large Roman kitchen, identified because of the amount of pot sherds and pans discovered. One of them, a whole pot at a lower level, had been used under the floor in the northern corner of the kitchen to keep foodstuffs cool. A Roman "Travelodge" someone remarked. Evidence showed the local community made almost everything they needed from raw materials which were  to
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We dug it up!

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 "We dug it up!" said one of the young archaeologists excitedly. She ran in with a large rusty metal object, as yet unidentified, which had given the metal detectors a very strong signal. Colchester Young Archaeologists met in the village of Fordham to learn how to identify bones, re-assemble pot shards into a whole, wash and sort finds from the nearby Colchester Archaeological Group dig and the ever popular metal detecting. Unlike our previous visits, the weather was unpredictable and as the large metal object was unearthed we all went under cover. Finds washed included some interesting pot shards and a small serrated edged flint tool. The bones identified were from the nearby dig and were an indication of the  animals, domestic, farm and wild, which were on and around the site in the Roman period. Below is a picture of the find washing activity.
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The receding tide on the Essex Coast reveals fossils

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  Colchester Young Archaeologists' Club explore the beach as the tide recedes. Before we ventured on to the beach to see what the receding tide had exposed, our expert explained we were exploring a site of special scientific interest. He explained that this part of the English coast had once been part of the continent and, apart from fossil shells exposed in the eroding Red Crag, the tide washed objects in from the near continent and further afield. The children had brought stones and fossils for him to identify and we looked round the visitor centre before we set off. The ebbing tide had exposed the three coastal war time defences, seen in the picture. The massive cranes of Felixstowe deep water container dock can be seen in the distance. Our expert was soon in demand to identify the objects the children had picked up. As soon as they realised his skills, two students who were taking erosion measurements brought things they had discovered to identify. Once free from identifying ob
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We explore St Botolph's priory and play games from the ancient world

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 Colchester Young Archaeologists' Club explored the remains of St Botolph's Priory church today and then discovered the footprint of the lost columns, transepts and sanctuary which, since Colchester Archaeological Trust's excavation of the site, are mapped out in concrete and stones. They chose to find spots on the sites of the columns to stand to indicate where they are. We went into the church hall in a shower for activities, which included Aquila. The devisor of this Romano/British game was on hand to explain the strategy. The prototype is from the first century AD and was discovered by Colchester Archaeological Trust in 1996 in the doctor/druid's grave the trust excavated in Stanway, Colchester. The grave is now replicated in Colchester Castle Museum. A YAC volunteer brought in a version of "the oldest game in the world." Played in the past 6,000 years. He said anything could be used, shells, seeds or pebbles in grooves made in sand or ground. Members of t
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We take making clothes back to basics!

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Jack cards the wool for Esther to spin it At Colchester's Young Archaeologists' club March meeting we looked at the fibres and fleeces which  even Stone Age communities used to clothe themselves. Archaeologists have discovered woven cloth which dates from the Stone Age. These were made from the fibres found between the bark and wood of trees. Other raw materials available to our ancestors is wild cotton, flax for linen, nettle fibre and the favourite for the British Isles, fleeces from sheep  were spun and woven into cloth.      Thanks to a generous donation of fleeces, wool combs and spindles a team of Jack, who combed the raw wool and Esther, who became a dab hand at spinning it, didn't have enough time to weave the impressive amount of  thread they produced between them.     Others learned they could produce clothes by knitting or crocheting the finished thread or produce a trim or tie with a lucet.      We tried weaving techniques and styles on cardboard looms.     Ther
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