Students to be archaeologist for a day in Ypres

Students in the highest three years of primary school and the first year of secondary school will get the unprecedented opportunity to be archaeologists for a day this autumn. The students will help professional archaeologists to find relics from Roman times in the Ypres area of West Flanders. The inter-municipal archaeological service in the southern Westhoek, Archeo7, is co-operating in the project. 

Recent archaeological research at an industrial site in Ypres brought to light not only relics from the Second World War but also from the Roman period. The relics belonged to a Roman army camp from around 200 BC, which is rare in the region. At that time, the first attacks of Germanic tribes threatened the Roman empire.

The Roman findings have been unearthed but not yet thoroughly examined. Archeo7 will teach students about the work of archaeologists and about the Romans in Ypres before letting them sift through the soil in search of relics.

The most impressive findings will eventually be exhibited in Ypres’ new city museum, with a mention of the name of the student who discovered it.

Photo: Visitors at a dig in West-Flanders that turned up First World War and older relics
© Fluxys