The three weeks at the start of July on the archaeology 'discover' programme were a lot of fun, getting to meet a whole load of students, community members and teachers from across the five Host Boroughs (Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets).

People attending the sessions at Hackney's East Marsh watched a ‘blanket dig’, which used blankets to represent the different layers of the ground, with each being a different period: starting with the modern day and a London 2012 badge, to artefacts from the Second World War and Victorian times, through to medieval, Roman and pre-historic finds, such as flint. The 'blanket dig' was followed up by some sketching, then an opportunity to get one’s hands dirty with washing archaeological finds from the Museum of London’s archives, by scrubbing and using toothbrushes.

Pupils wash some archaeological finds:

People came with different interests, for plenty of reasons, but most notably the Bromley-by-Bow group, which ranged massively in age, with three generations learning about archaeology and local history.

We held 18 sessions in all, and over 450 people got involved. The session we had with Gwyn Jones Primary was a particularly good one. I have a few comments to add from Gwyn Jones students, including Anjali who explained 'we went back in time and found interesting remains under blankets [as a part of the 'blanket dig'], and from scrubbing some ancient remains'. Jamal enjoyed finding out what objects were used in different periods and Grinder was surprised by how much can be found underground. Freya, Chloe, Izaan, Ali, Jacob, Sophie, Mohammad and Coral said they thought washing artefacts was the best part of the session. Tahirah and Daniel both told us they enjoy ice skating, which is something students were told used to happen in winter on the East Marsh, with smoothed out bones being used as skates.

Listening to a talk and doing a 'blanket dig' on East Marsh:



Another good session was with George Tomlinson Primary on 2 July, whose students also wrote in with feedback. Luiza learned that badger hair was used to make toothbrushes during post-medieval times! Saima, Zachary and Mohamed reported they really enjoyed the opportunity to wash real artefacts from Museum of London’s archives. Toby told us he is looking forward to the London 2012 Opening Ceremony and Connor is most excited about seeing the Olympic Stadium.

The 'discover' archaeology sessions gave people the opportunity to learn more about what has happened in the area close to the Olympic Park through history, which has of course influenced where and how we live today. Feedback we received suggests (as I found!) this is not something we often think about, but is of real interest and gives us a greater appreciation of what surrounds us in our day-to-day lives.

Pupils do the 'blanket dig' and record their findings:



There are loads of other good ODA projects going on in the community, such as the Health and Safety drama workshops we are doing in schools. I'll miss doing the East Marsh archaeology sessions, especially hearing children trying to guess the total number of football pitches (88) on Hackney’s East Marsh. 'Millions?' was my favourite answer.