Discoveries, Our Blog
#ThrowbackThursday the ‘Doctor’s Grave’
Sep
#ThrowbackThursday to when CAT made the headlines, excavating the amazing ‘Doctor’s Grave’ at Stanway in 1996! 
At the time it was the largest press coverage CAT had ever seen, and appearing in newspapers and on TV, both domestic and world-wide, all the way from New Zealand to the USA. A lot of the coverage was based on speculation that, because of the remarkably well-preserved medical instruments found alongside the cremated remains, the grave’s occupant may have been a surgeon or even one of the druids, whom it is known practiced medicine alongside their other duties; and, of course, on the unique discovery of 26 blue and white glass counters (‘the shape of thick chocolate drops’), arranged in what appears to be a Roman era board game.
To this day no one is entirely sure what the game discovered at Stanway actually was, though it appears similar to modern games like draughts or chess, and elements of the game have led some to connect it with other, better known Roman and Celtic games. There is also the possibility that an as yet unknown game was played, perhaps one unique to Colchester! It is on this belief that Colchester resident Alex Jones based his (very) playable reconstruction of the rules of the game, ‘Aquila’ on.
Does anyone here have any memories of this important event in Colchester’s archaeology? 
Written by work experience student Leo.
