A FREE online course offers participants the chance to be among the first to study cremated remains from Roman Britain.

Colchester Museums and the University of Reading’s department of archaeology have launched Dead Interesting, a free course uncovering Roman Britain in old museum collections available on the social learning platform FutureLearn.

Those on the course will be among the first to study 2,000-year-old cremated remains from Roman Britain and to learn about the origins of the people of its first capital.

Its content will draw upon latest research and discoveries on the intricacies of life and death in Roman Colchester by examining cremation burials from Colchester Museum’s vast collections.

Participants will join the research team to uncover facts about a single individual who died in Roman Colchester and over the duration of the course participants will be able to build up a profile of who this person was – their age, sex, origin and status.

They will also learn Roman attitudes to death and burial processes and have access to behind-the-scenes footage showing expert analysis filmed at Colchester Museums stores as well as articles written by the wider research team.

The course is aimed at those interested in studying archaeology at undergraduate or postgraduate level as well as anyone keen on history and archaeology.

Though the course is designed to last two weeks, participants can learn in their own time and at their own pace.

Glynn Davis, senior collections and learning curator at Colchester Museums, said: “This is an incredible opportunity for individuals to get beneath the skin of Roman Britain. Who were the individuals that ultimately ended their lives in Roman Colchester?

“Using cutting-edge osteoarchaeological techniques, we have been able to work alongside our peers at the University of Reading to truly bring Roman Colchester to life.”

Professor Hella Eckardt, professor of archaeology at the University of Reading added: “We have long-known about mobility and migration, from inscriptions on stone, but this course allows learners to uncover the information that can be unlocked from human remains and artefacts, painting a much richer picture of what life was like at the edge of the Roman Empire in the first century AD.”

Learners who complete the course will have the opportunity to pay for upgraded access for as long as it exists on the platform.

They will also have a chance to earn a Certificate of Achievement to demonstrate their completion of the course.

This course has been part-funded by Arts Council England.

Join the free course at bit.ly/3r8eeRr.