Have you ever wondered just how archaeology works? Or fancied an archaeological ‘hook’ activity to kick start a history topic? Then this is the visit for you.

The Archaeologist, comes to visit your classes. Starting with a demonstration of how layers build up; they then choose a volunteer child to prepare for an ancient style burial. This is followed by introducing Lucy the Skeleton and seeing what would remain if the buried child was found today.

This whole group session is followed by a rotation of three activities such as:

• The uncovering of finds, identifying and recording them.
• Sorting broken pieces of pottery and reconstructing them.
• Experimental archaeology.

These activities are designed to be run by the archaeologist and two members of staff.

The whole group then comes together so  the audience can be shown how to use typology to work out the probable timeline of similar objects. The visit is wrapped up with a question and answer session.

This unit can be condensed to a half day and then paired with an in depth study of a historical period.  See here for Historical Periods