I Dig History

I “Dig” History
Developed by Bernadette Pate Holt
Spring 98

Summary:
The purpose of this unit is to provide the students with a hands-on experience of working an archaeological site and to equip them with the skills necessary for such a task. Basic theories of archaeology and its methods of obtaining data will also be introduced.

Connections to the Curriculum:

Time:
This is approximately a one week unit.

Season:
This unit may be taught at any time of the year, but would go nicely studies of Native Americans, which is often conducted in the Fall.

Objectives:
As a result of this activity, the student will:

TEKS Science - 3rd Grade
(3.2) Scientific Processes. The student uses scientific inquiry methods during field and laboratory investigations.

(A) plan and implement descriptive investigations including asking well defined questions, formulating testable hypotheses, and selecting and using equipment and technology;
(B) collect information by observing and measuring;
(C) analyze and interpret information to construct reasonable explanations from direct and indirect evidence; and
(D) communicate valid conclusions.

DAY 1

Overview:
The science of archaeology often relies on the remains of old village sites. As with all humans, each of us discards many different types of objects daily that usually find their way into some type of garbage dump. These collections of discarded artifacts in one central location are often referred to as “middens”. On examination of these artifacts, one can infer many things about the people who used them, how the artifacts were valued. We can also reconstruct an idea of what daily life in a village was like by examining objects such as bones, wood, and shells that have been preserved in the midden.

In today’s lesson, students will model how artifacts are deposited over time, by taking part in a role-play activity. They will list the human and natural forces that come into play in the deposition of the artifacts and their subsequent burial in a site. A thorough discussion of “layering” will be very useful for future activities. You might want to discuss Nicholas Steno’s Law of Superposition which states “In any pile of deposition where the top and bottom layers can be identified, the order of deposition is from the bottom to the top.”

Materials:

A shoe box lid to serve as a tray
1 cup of soil
1 cup of leaves
1 object to simulate something 2000 years old, such as an arrowhead or a burned piece of wood
1 object from 10-50 years of age, such as an old coin, sterling spoon, or old piece of jewelry
1 modern bottle cap or candy wrapper
butcher paper approximately 4 feet in length
a time line chart showing the present and going back 2000 years

Procedure:

Ask the students to describe some of the ways that scientists and other scholars learn about earlier human cultures.
Invite three volunteers to come up and help dramatize the ways the objects from the past might have become buried.
Ask the class to imagine that it is 2000 years ago. The first volunteer is someone living in those days who might have dropped something as they were moving their village to a different spot to follow the herds. Put the tray on the table and place a small amount of the soil in the bottom.
Give the first volunteer an object representing an old artifact. Ask the volunteer to walk past the tray and leave the object somewhere on the soil. The more vivid you can make the story at this point the better. Be creative!
Ask the class to describe some natural ways that this object would become covered. Suggestions: landslides, volcano eruptions, flooding, erosion, etc. Then sprinkle the rest of the soil over the object.
Next, ask the class to imagine that many years have passed. The second volunteer is walking along the same site. Give the volunteer the artifact from 10-50 years ago to leave on the surface of the soil. Remember, keep the story interesting.
After the object has been placed on the soil, sprinkle it with the cup of leaves to simulate the falling of leaves over the years.
Ask the class to imagine that even more time has past and that it is today. Ask the third volunteer drop the bottle cap or candy wrapper on the top of the leaves.
Create a chart of the effects, both natural and human, that cause items to become buried.

Questions:

What are some of the natural phenomena that can cause an object to become buried?
What caused these things to be left behind?
Have you ever accidentally dropped something and wondered what happened to it?
If we were to dig in this spot now, what would you expect to find?
What item would you find first? last?
Where would you expect to find the oldest object? Why?

Evaluation:
As this point, teacher observation will be the main evaluation tool. what type of questions are the children generating? Do they understand the basic premise upon which the Law of Superposition is founded? Expanding the Lesson: This can be done through the use of writing. Have the students write a short story from the point of view of one of the lost objects. Have them describe what happens to them after they are lost and how they came to be buried at the site.

DAY 2

Overview:
Today’s lesson will provide the students with a hands-on experience of working with a miniature version of an archaeological site. They will use archaeological methods and skills while uncovering the site. There is a great deal of preparation for this lesson. You will need to start gathering the things far in advance in order to be ready for today’s lesson.

Materials:
Middens
This list is for making one midden. You will need to multiply the materials for the number of middens you plan to make. I suggest one midden for each group of three children.

1 extra large foil loaf pan
6-10 cups of potting soil • leaves to cover the surface of the midden
4 cups of sand
9-10 different kinds of objects hidden in the midden(You might want to use two or three of each object in each of the middens.

–shells with holes from a necklace
–shells without holes (oyster or clam)
–broken pieces of earth-colored clay pots that are unglazed
–chicken bones
–popping corn
–dried beans
–small pieces of obsidian rock to indicate tools(if you have some arrowheads you would like to use you may.)
–wood, small burned and unburned pieces
–suede leather or rawhide in natural colors
–small pieces of woven grass mat or hemp string in natural colors
–natural colored feathers
–small modern objects such as plastic toys, bottle caps, and candy wrappers

For each group you will need:

– 1 midden
– a tray or box for sifting or spooning soil into
– 1 stiff-bristle inexpensive paintbrush or toothbrush to remove the soil and clean artifacts
– 3 plastic spoons
– 1-2 plastic strawberry baskets to use as sifters
– 1 egg carton with the lid removed
– 1 piece of lined paper for making a key
– 3 pencils – newspaper for covering the table
– string about 18 inches long for making a grid
– scissors
– tape

Procedure:
1. First you will need to make the middens. I have found it helpful to set them up in an assembly line during the preparation. Place objects in the bottom of the pan that represent a long time ago such as the plain shells and bones. Cover these objects with a layer of sand and mist with water. The second layer should contain thins such as corn, beans, feathers, obsidian, rawhide, shells with holds, burned wood, and other items that represent early civilization. Cover these objects with a layer of soil. The third layer should have things like small plastic toys, bottle caps, candy wrappers an other objects that represent a more modern time. Place the leaves on top of these objects and mist well with water again. The middens should be allowed to sit and dry before the students begin their dig.

2. When class begins, tell the students that they are going to be archaeologist today. They are going to be digging at a site to decide who has lived at their site over the years. Each group should have a midden. Before they can begin, they need to divide the work up into different jobs. There will be three different jobs, (1) a map maker - who will draw a diagram of the site and record and draw pictures of where the objects are found at the site, (2) the excavate - who will do the digging and remove objects from the site, and (3) the museum curator - who will clean the objects and decide how they should be grouped in the egg cartons.

3. circulate among the teams, assisting with questions and encouraging collaboration and sharing of tasks.

4. Encourage Excavators to be careful and go slowly, so as not to miss an artifact or mix layers.

5. Remind the Map Maker that each group should make a new map when their team comes to a new layer of artifacts. The leaves on the top layer count as the top layer.

6. Some students will finish before others. Encourage students who finish early to compare and describe or sketch the simulated artifacts. It two teams finish early, have them compare their findings.

7. Once the teams have completed their excavations and leaned up the excess soil, explain that in the next session, the class will discuss what has been found at the dig site.

8. Have each group make sure their names are on their maps and egg cartons, and then put them in a central storage area.

Questions:
1. What objects do you think are from longer ago? Why?

2. How do you know that these objects are older?

3. What does the Law of Superposition say about objects that are in the bottom layers as opposed to objects that are in the top layer?

4. How do you think some of these objects might have been use?

5. Why do you think that these objects were left behind?

Evaluation:
Evaluation will be based upon teacher observation. You can give a grade on group cooperation and participation during this session. You might also want to take a look at the maps and how the objects were separated to make a decision as to whether or not the students were performing this task satisfactorily.

Day 3

Overview:
In this session, students list and describe the different kinds of objects uncovered in each midden. One all of the objects have been listed on the chalkboard, students are asked to brainstorm ways the objects may have been used by the people who lived at the site hundreds or thousands of years ago.

Materials:
For the class:

large map of the midden site
chalkboard or large paper for recording ideas
marker to write names of artifacts on the cards

For each group of 3 students:

maps of midden artifacts made in previous session
1 egg carton containing the team’s artifacts
3 pieces of 8 1/2” paper for describing an artifact
3 pencils
1 ruler

Procedures:
1. Make sure the students have the maps and egg carton museums ready for discussion.

2. Try to think of a interesting way for your class to sum up and analyze their “findings.” Sometimes the class has become so involved in the middens activity that anything afterward seems anti-climactic.

3. Have students gather in their midden groups and pass out their egg carton museums and maps. Let them have a few minutes to re-examine and discuss their finds.

4. Gather attention of the whole class. Begin with a very open discussion, encouraging students to talk about any surprises, controversies and ideas. After their initial comments and relations, guide the discussion toward the subject of teamwork and how it felt to be archaeologists collaborating on a project.

5. Focus the group on the nature of the objects collected by asking students to help you list on the chalkboard all of the different kinds of artifacts uncovered. Tell students to refer to their museums for input to the class list. For review, ask which objects are from longer ago-those in the top or the bottom layer?

6. Once you have the artifacts listed down one side of the chalkboard, ask the students to suggest some possible uses for the objects and/or add some of your own suggestions as need be. write these as headings across the top of the chalkboard, such as Food, Cookware, Jewelry, Housing, Weapons, etc.

7. Invite students to infer what uses the various artifacts may have had and list the artifact in the appropriate column or columns. Some artifacts may be placed in more than one category.

8. Explain that archaeologist often disagree, since they can’t be sure of what it was like long ago. Encourage students to discuss whether a particular inference is far fetched or supported by observable evidence. You may want to give a few examples of your own, including one or more obvious fabrications or unsupported assumptions, and ask for their comments.

9. Ask the students to select one artifact from their team’s museum to sketch and write about. Tell them to list some of the inferences they can make about the object, then draw a picture of how people may have used the object in the past.

10. After students have had 15-20 minutes to work on their artifact reports, convene the class to where reports, or display the reports on the wall or as part of a book, where all can see and enjoy them.

Questions:

1. How did it feel to find things buried in your midden?

2. Why was it important to work together as a team?

3. Which objects were older, the ones on the top or bottom layer? Why do you think that?

4. Why are these things important as artifacts?

5. What can these objects tell us?

6. What do you think that these objects were used for?

7. If we pretend that the middens were real, what could you guess about the lives, customs, eating habits, and environment of the people who left these items behind?

Evaluation:
Again, much of the evaluation for this lesson should be teacher observation. If you feel the need to derive a grade from this activity, you might choose to grade on participation or the quality of the artifact report that the students turn in.

Day 4-5

Overview:
This is an extension and closure activity for this unit. In this activity the students will create a play, with props and outfits appropriate to the time periods which they are trying to portray. This activity should take approximately two days to complete. The first day will be used to create and practice the skits. The second day will be the performances of the skits.

Materials:

Appropriate props for each time period. Examples: animal print cloth, head dresses, bows and arrows(plastic), clay pots, and any other type of props you feel appropriate to the time periods that the students will be portraying. You may also use some of the artifacts that were found in the middens.
paper
pencils

Procedures:
1. Divide the class into three groups. Assign each group one of the three time period represented in the middens. These are (1) over 2000 years ago, (2) 200 years ago, (3) and modern times.

2. Have each group write a short skit about the people who lived during the time that the artifacts from their given period lived. From the inferences that have been made from the artifacts found have them create a skit that portrays the use of these artifacts in the daily lives of the people that left the artifacts behind.

3. You will need to circulate around to each group encouraging them to add their own person creative touches to the skit and to make sure that every person in the group has some input.

4. After the skits have been written, have the students collect props that they feel will enhance their skit. Some students may even have things at home that they would like to bring that would be appropriate as props.

5. Give the students a chance to practice their skits. Encourage them to try to portray the social interaction between the various peoples of each time.

6. On the second day, invite other classes to come to observe your skits. Your students may want to explain that they have been studying the past by collecting and making observations from artifacts found while they were on a archaeological dig.

Questions:
1. How do you think the people of your time period survived?

2. Why do you think the people of your time period were at this particular spot?

3. What do you think eventually happen to the people that were once here?

4. How do you think the people of your time period are different from the peoples of the other two time periods?

5. How did the artifacts help you know about the people of your time period?

Evaluation:
At this point, you will want to observe how well the students have synthesized the information in this unit. This may be judged by the quality of information in their skits and their portrayal of the people of the different time periods. You may also wish to give a written assessment focusing on the archaeological skills that the students had to use while participating in a dig.

Resources:
Investigating Artifacts. Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California at Berkeley, 1992.

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