Digging Up a Mystery
Valuable kinaesthetic activities needn’t be long and complex. Most teachers frequently integrate short, physical demonstrations of an idea, concept or event into the normal run of lessons. This example is a starter activity that can be used with any age from 5 up to university level, only takes a couple of minutes but adds variety and stimulus, creating the right kind of atmosphere for any mystery starting with an archaeological find.
All you need by way of resources is a picture of the find to be investigated - ready to be revealed on your whiteboard but hidden for the moment. You don’t need trowels or brushes – that’s all in the imagination.
The Activity
Your task is to conjure up the scene of discovery, drawing your students in so they think they are there! It only takes a minute or two but it’s great for creating that ‘Wow’ factor.
First involve at least some of your students – get one per group to come out and kneel on the floor [if you’ve got space, get everyone doing it]. Next, everyone, not just those kneeling down, must close their eyes.
Now you create the scene with a description something like this.
“You’re taking part in an archaeological dig, looking for evidence buried long ago. It’s early morning. The sun is starting to warm your back but it rained yesterday. You can probably feel the ground’s still damp through the knees of your jeans. It’s time to start work.
Pick up the trowel by your right knee. Start to scrape away the soil where you were digging yesterday. Careful! Just scrape gently. That’s right, scrape carefully – Oh! What’s that? I think I saw something gleam in the sun.
Put your trowel down. You don’t want the sharp edge to damage what’s there. Pick up your brush and very gently brush the soil away, that’s it, very gently. I can see it now. Wow! It’s looking really interesting – this is quite a find … you’ve done really well ..
Now when I count to 3, open your eyes and look up and see what you’ve found ..”
And that’s when you reveal the find on your screen
Cue cries of ‘Oooh’ and ‘Wow’.
So that takes you into the first task – ‘what questions do you want to ask about this?’ which brings in that often-neglected historical skill – asking questions. And after that the mystery develops in whichever way you like but, hopefully, that initial couple of minutes of scene setting has increased students’ interest and motivation.
Notes & Variations
This activity was developed to work with the Mystery of the Skeletons in the Fields which investigates bones almost certainly belonging to Vikings killed after the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. For the full activity see What is History? Year 7 published by Hodder Education.
You can use this starter with any mystery which contains a skull or skeleton or other archaeological find, such as excavations at Sutton Hoo or Maiden Castle. However it’s worth thinking more widely – it could, for example, be used as an intro to fighting on the western front in World War One, starting from 21st century finds of soldier’s skeletons or weapons. Other possibilities would be Civil War cannonballs, industrial archaeology, Saxon or Viking homes or belongings such as bone combs or skates. For another variation see The Great Cheese Mystery on this site!
The other bonus is it gives students a brief insight into archaeological finds and you could look at how finds are recorded – they’re not just dug up but photographed, related to strata and other finds and need preservation.
For websites supporting archaeology in schools or providing details of some great finds see:
Council for British Archaeology Education site plus their Young Archaeologists site
British Museum – great for pictures and details on major finds
Post Script
This works well with teachers at CPD courses so if you’re ever doing whole school CPD on learning styles or, even showing parents what happens in History lessons, then this activity is worth trying. Just one warning – make sure those who kneel down to excavate can also get up again without help!
Reflections
1. What was the impact of this activity on motivation and enjoyment?
2. When else could this technique be used within your courses? [Could you, for example, create a variation that could be used at A level – the discovery of a document for example?]
3. Did this activity enhance pupils’ understanding of how we find out about the past? How might you build on this?
4. Did you enjoy the activity yourself? If so, why?