Young Archaeologists in the Pandemic

It has taken six months to devise, and now, a new trail is set to be launched for Colchester town centre. It is part of a scheme to encourage young people to explore their local history. English Heritage devised "shout out loud" and challenged the young archaeologists' clubs throughout the country to deliver a little known or forgotten, "from ordinary to extraordinary" story.    As one of seven clubs whose application was successful, young people in Colchester undertook research, designed eye-catching symbols, coloured pictures, and  used maps to deliver their story in the form of a trail.    With support and advice from the Council of British Archaeology, Colchester Museums and tour guides, Colchester YAC's trail and story will be published online and in leaflet form.    The story encompasses the whole of Essex, with some surprising facts and figures.  It focuses on Colchester, where some ordinary peoples' lives took an extraordinary turn, at a shocking

 We planned this in 2019 after a visit to Colchester's Natural History Museum. With an expert from Colchester Museums, four volunteers, eighteen members of the young archaeologist club and their parents met on the Essex coast for beach combing and fossil hunting today. They found sharks teeth, fossilised shells in the slumps of the red crag, fossilised sponge and seeds. One young person broke open some fossilised London clay to reveal imprints of creatures inside and found a lump of coprolite (aka pre-historic poo). Below are some of the things I collected.