From the HSIE Faculty – Luke Reynolds

Ancient History  – Archaeological Cookie Dig

On Wednesday 19 February the Ancient History class undertook an archaeological cookie dig. In our recent lessons we have been learning about different excavation methods and procedures surrounding the preservation of artefacts.

To understand this better, we placed a cookie on a grid and then drew the shape of the cookie on another grid. The chocolate chips in the cookie were our artefacts and we used toothpicks, which mimicked archaeological tools, to carefully remove the chips from the cookie batter, which represented the sediment. As we removed the artefacts from the sediment, we drew the artefacts on the grid in the place in which we found them. Once the artefacts were removed from the sediment, we counted the amount of artefacts we had, which mostly reflected the amount of artefacts we had drawn on the grid.

Through this experiment, we were able to get a more hands-on understanding of how difficult it is to excavate artefacts without damaging them, as well as how each method of excavation works. This fun and interactive activity not only built our knowledge in a creative way, but was also thoroughly enjoyable for all of us. 

By Amelia Baillon – Year 11 Ancient History