Colchester Young Archaeologists meeting on 21st September

On Saturday (21st September), the Colchester Young Archaeologists’ Club (YAC) held their September meeting here at Roman Circus House.

Colchester YAC organiser Barbara Butler writes: ‘… Young Archaeologists in Colchester have re-invented themselves as Roman citizens. They met in Roman Circus House on Saturday to create maps of the walled Roman city (now Colchester town centre). They have each chosen a Roman identity for themselves and have located villas on their maps to live in as citizens. Some of them have sited their villas near to their favourite Roman attraction, such as the theatre, the temple or the chariot-racing circus. They can all work out from the street plans how to get to the chariot races. Before they went home, they all took their maps outside to locate the actual site of the circus starting-gates and a length of foundation representing part of the wall of the circus seating-stand, and then they worked out where we were all standing from their maps.

When we meet in October, we will all take our maps to explore the Roman town wall and one of the Roman gates and to do an archaeological survey on specific sections of the town wall …’

Thanks to Barbara for her report on the YAC meeting and the photo. .

The image shows Colchester YAC members busy working on their Roman maps in the cafe at Roman Circus House on Saturday.

The next meeting of the Colchester YAC is in October.

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If you are aged under 17 and interested in joining the Young Archaeologists’ Club in Colchester, then please contact Barbara Butler on 07808 968766 or at barbara[at]peterbutlerdesign.co.uk or Barbara Butler, Colchester YAC Branch, c/o the Colchester Archaeological Trust, Roman Circus House, off Circular Road North, Colchester, Essex CO2 7GZ.

The National Young Archaeologists’ Club web-site is at www.yac-uk.org/

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