Colchester Young Archaeologists’ Club November meeting

On Saturday (15th November), the members of the Colchester Young Archaeologists’ Club (YAC) and their helpers got together at Roman Circus House for their November meeting, with guest Julie Wakefield from St Albans.

Colchester YAC organiser Barbara Butler writes: ‘… The Colchester Young Archaeologists’ club met on Saturday at Roman Circus House to find out about medieval medicine and remedies. They made a messy, sticky, smelly plague remedy from a “kill or cure” recipe using a scooped-out onion, treacle and black pepper, all roasted and then diffused through muslin to make a sticky black medicine or poultice. They pounded and ground up herbs and spices to make a “restorative” to take home, and they also made a poultice to apply to cuts and grazes. They learned about the “miraculous” cures which religious relics were thought to achieve and the sort of “butchery” that barber surgeons carried out. Our guest Julie Wakefield brought the relics, herbs and spices to make our cures.

Our next two meetings will not be at Roman Circus House. In December, we will be visiting the Museum of London to meet Caroline McDonald of the Museum and to visit some of the City’s Roman sites, and our final meeting for the year will be at Lavenham Guildhall.

We look forward to returning to Roman Circus House in the spring of 2015 …’

The images show members of the YAC making their remedies, with the assistance of helper Kate and guest Julie.

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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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