The first experimental camp of the summer took place in a
beautiful woodland reserve of oak and hazel near Claydon, just
outside Ipswich. Forty students from Claydon and Thurleston High
Schools were given the chance to reconstruct a Roman pottery kiln
and an Iron Age roundhouse from archaeological evidence recovered
from nearby quarry sites in the Gipping valley.
Over three days in early July the students, guided by
specialists in archaeology, kiln construction and woodworking
techniques took on the challenge with great enthusiasm and a
startling ability to interpret the archaeological plans and
photographs. Duncan and Jezz, the two archaeologists leading the
project, and both teachers in former lives, were genuinely
surprised by the students abilities and the speed with which they
were able to develop their ideas for the reconstructions, identify
potential problems and come up with solutions.
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With what seemed like continuous rain throughout June it was not
looking good as we approached the start date. When the lorry hired
to transport a tonne of clay to the site developed clutch problems
and the almost liquid clay broke out of its bag and oozed its way
across the floor of the replacement box van things looked decidedly
grey. Then the van got stuck and we had to hand move the clay to
the site, scooping it up in our arms because the shovels locked
solid in the sludge. Jezz said he had known better days.
Then the sun came out and the students arrived. They mastered
using billhooks, saws and some lethal looking knives quickly and
set to work, closely followed by our film crew who will be
recording all of our work to develop a teaching resource for
schools and community groups.
Making pottery
During classroom visits the children had been shown
illustrations and photographs of Romano-British pottery found on
local archaeological sites, during the camp they produced
their own pots inspired by these illustrations to fire in their
kiln.
Constructing the kiln
Beryl Hines, pottery and kiln building specialist, guided the
children through the construction of their kiln.
Building the Roundhouse
Building the roundhouse required the development of many new
skills.
By the end of the three days, we had the roundhouse framework
complete and the kiln base formed. All the students had made pots
on site. We will return in September to finish the job, fire the
kiln during an overnight stay and prepare and cook on site using
Iron Age techniques and recipes.