Archaeology+Camp

**YEAR 1: The Montwellian Excavation Society’s Summer Field Archaeology Camp**
//The first year, we would be studying pre-history up to 1 AD. I wanted the kids to have a firm grasp on how historians interpret artifacts in order to try to understand what happened in the past.//

**Preparation:**
Planning for the archaeological dig camp took literally months. I did a lot of research to find out what I could about digs, the collapse of civilizations, and general characteristics of ancient societies. Some web sites: Collapse: Why do Civilizations Fail? http://www.learner.org/exhibits/collapse/index.html Royal Ontario Museum’s Online Activities: http://www.rom.on.ca/schools/activities.php Analyzing Artifacts Lesson Plan: http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Archaeology/ARL0002.html A Sandbox Dig: http://www.sfu.ca/archaeology/museum/classroom/sandbox.html What Did the Archeologists Discover? Handout http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/archaeology/second/kids/twelveover/archdisc.GIF

· I had to plan exactly what I wanted to do first. My idea was that the kids would discover artifacts that would tell them a general story, but I wanted the artifacts to be clues that would be open-ended enough for the kids to be able to speculate. Our reason for digging at this site was to discover what happened to the culture which had lived and flourished here. That was their ultimate task and so all my efforts were geared to figuring out how to help them do this.

· I made up the name of a culture (located vaguely in ancient India), the Montwellians, and two sites where their artifacts were found, the Rakhshan River site and the site that they would be working at – the Log Cabin site. Having a second site allowed me to make up some artifacts that had been found before the current dig relating to the culture that might help the kids figure out some of the things they would find.

· The next thing to do was start digging the pit that the kids would later dig up themselves. I dug a pit about 6 x 6 x 1 foot deep. Since I was digging this by hand, it took a while. I put the dirt in a pile nearby so I could use some of it again.

· In the meantime, I planned exactly what artifacts would be found—and then created them! I decided there would be three basic phases, one for around 3,500 BC (Hunter and gatherers), one for about 2,500 BC (Early Farmers) and about 2,000 BC (Weakening culture with agriculture and animal husbandry). Each phase would be in a layer uncovered in the dig. I laid out each layer so that each excavation square would find some things (I determined I would have 4 squares about 2.5 feet each). (diagram: [|dig diagram.pdf])

· Several of the artifacts had to be created—like some mud bricks (made from air-drying clay mixed with dried grass and coated with a shellac), a bone with a mark on it, etc. Others were just things I could convert to artifacts, like dried wheat grains, shells, beads, a cheap piece of pottery, etc. I also planned to make “postholes” in the bottom two layers (built in the second phase but showing up in the first layer also because posts were driven into the ground—it would be a puzzle for the kids to figure out!). I also included some round balls of oven-baked clay as another puzzle—what could these have been used for? (I didn’t have an answer in mind).

· For the first layer I put sand mixed with some soil back in the pit. The second layer was dirt mixed mulch so that it was richer and darker. The third layer was basically the dirt I had dug out of the pit by itself, and was lighter in color than the second layer. In each layer, I laid the artifacts where I wanted them to be. After putting on the last layer I let the dig site sit for 4 weeks. I had originally planned to put some sod on top, but decided that the site was “discovered” by a farmer plowing his field and that would explain why there was nothing on top! I set up a datum point and then stretched string across the pit to outline the squares.

· I sent each of the kids an acceptance letter from the Montwellian Excavation Society, giving them information about what to bring for the two days, a fact sheet on the Montwellian Culture, and a schedule [|(welcome letter.pdf]). I also ordered some plastic “pith helmets” that would be decorated with stickers ([|hats1.doc], [|small hat stickers.pdf]) throughout the course of the two days, as they completed certain activities ([|Pith Helmet link]).

· I also gathered supplies—trowels, kneeling pads, brushes, plastic gloves, buckets, baggies, pens, nail polish. We created two screens for sifting dirt—one with a large grid and one with a smaller grid, and dragged a hose to our Dump/Wash station. We set up a cook tent over the dig site because it is out in the sun for most of the day and we were also trying to keep some of the bugs out. We set up shelves outside for our artifacts to be displayed upon. I created and printed forms they would use: Dig site map ([|Dig Site Map.doc]); Artifact tags ([|artifact tags.pdf]); Digging techniques and guidelines ([|Digging Techniques and Guidelines.doc]); Dump and washing techniques ([|Dump and Washing Techniques.doc]); Lab request forms ([|Lab Request.doc]); and, Log book pages ([|Log Cabin Site Log BookDate.doc]). I made artifacts, photographed them and made an “artifact catalogue” from the Rakhshan River site, as a reference: [|Artifact descriptions.doc] (this does not have the photos in it) and [|Overview Rakhshan River Excavation.doc].

**Schedule:**
· When the day came, all the kids were introduced to the techniques they would need to follow for the various tasks. I stayed in my role as the dig supervisor and they played right along with me! We watched a short video from an Instructional Television series that covered an archaeological dig, so they could see real archaeologists at work. After lunch (hot dogs), I split the kids (12 of them) into 6 teams of 2. These teams worked together throughout the two days, rotating through all four squares of the dig (alternating the roles of digger and recorder), the Dumping/Washing station and the Marking/Recording station.

· The kids really enjoyed the digging! They were very excited whenever they uncovered something and the cataloguing area was hopping. Everyone loved to work in the dump/wash area because that was a lot of playing in mud! We did have some glitches, as the dump/wash station often got backed up, but it worked very well all in all. To help the cataloguers figure out certain things, they could send an artifact to the “Lab” to get an analysis of it using the Lab Request form. Since I was the “Lab,” I was then able to tell them certain things about the age, chemical make-up, etc. of artifacts that they wouldn’t be able to figure out from looking at it. One thing I told them about is that they animal bones in the top layer were from animals who were malnourished and that the soil from this layer was high in mineral salts (as one possible explanation for why the civilization died out was like one of the Mesopotamian cities—over irrigation left too many mineral salts for healthy plants leading to malnutrition).

· After the first day of digging, we had some free time (where they were able to swim in our pool). I also had given them a small notebook for a journal so they could write about their experiences. After dinner (camp food--dinner-in-foil), the kids were introduced to a fabulous web site on a dig in Turkey called Catal Hoyuk ( http://www.smm.org/catal/ .) There are several video interviews with various archaeologists who have been involved with the site and these were excellent. In the evening we had a campfire and made s’mores, they played flashlight tag and then everyone spread out in various rooms of the house for sleeping (we originally had planned to sleep in tents but it was way too hot).

· The next day, we worked on the dig again. They did not completely finish it by the time I had set for them to stop so I promised they could go back later (yes, they WANTED to keep digging!). During our lunch (sandwiches), I let them look over the artifacts we’d found (including any lab reports that explained more about the artifacts), and we started to try to answer the question about why the civilization died out. Several theories were put forth and argued. No one right answer was discovered, but they determined that the people were becoming malnourished, and no sign of any conquering peoples were found, so the people must have left for a better place somewhere else.

· Then I set them the task of organizing the artifacts they had found in order to “tell the story” to their parents. They set up a display on some shelving I had, then had the chance for more pool time before having to pack up. When the parents arrived, they all showed off their display and told their parents what they had found. As the parents milled around talking with each other, several of the kids went back to the dig to keep digging and had to be finally dragged away!











For more pictures, go to this page.