Kate and Al were on hand again, supported by Jackie Keily of the Museum of London and Dan and Glynn from the Museum's Archaeological Archive and Research Centre (LAARC).
Six ladies from St Hilda’s bravely donned gloves, took up their trowels and added a splash of colour to the trench, finding a range of artefacts which they then examined with the help of the team. Year 1 teacher Janine bought Nazim, Jahed, Minhaj, Kareema and six friends for their turn in the trench. Large helmets soon protected small heads containing keen, enquiring minds.
Initial surprise at finding a bone soon turned to enthusiastic, almost competitive digging:
“What’s this, what’s this?”, “I’ve got another bone!”, “Is it a dinosaur?, I've got a dinosaur!”, “I’ve got a dinosaur, too!”, “Another piece is coming out, it’s coming out!”
Sadly, no dinosaurs were found, but the excitement and enthusiasm continued until, all too quickly, it was time for a “thank you and goodbye” from all and a return to the classroom, but with a newly discovered insight into the past and newly found and practiced skills in archaeology.
Another visitor to the community dig was the novelist and historian Sarah Wise. Her latest book “The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum” is a social history of the Old Nichol Street Rookery (or slum) that was demolished to make way for the present Boundary Estate, around Arnold Circus. She was very interested in the artefacts found by the archaeologists and the children: she could see the very things the people she had written about would have used in their day-to-day lives.
Most poignant, were the tiny remains of a child’s shoe; life for a child in the Rookery was very different to that of children today (for more information on Sarah’s book, see the review in the Guardian (external link)).
Also visiting the trench today was Naseem Khan, the chair of the Friends of Arnold Circus (external link), who not only take an active part in looking after the gardens and environment of the area but are key movers in organizing and co-coordinated this archaeology event with the community.
