Year 10 History Elective – Experiential Learning

archaeological excavations through experiential learning through a mock archaeological dig. Students were then led to reflect on their experience to understand the scientific process used by archaeologists to locate, unearth, examine, and hypothesise about past societies using material culture as evidence. A huge thank you to Ms Janssen for preparing the archaeological dig boxes and providing students with this creative and rich history learning experience.

Ms Zagora

Head of HSIE (Humanities and Social Sciences)

Student Reflection

Continuing our topic of Discovering Ancient Worlds, students from Year 10 Elective History engaged in an archaeological excavation. We learnt the connection between the work of archaeologists and the construction of the ancient past, and this is helpful as we get a first-hand experience in the process, assisting us in our studies. On a broader level, understanding ancient history to this level is so important as it helps us understand the modern world, how it came to be, and how we should live in the future. 

To begin, we sorted through tools as archaeologists would, and set up our excavation site using an archaeological grid system. We then worked in teams to excavate the area, starting by removing the top layers of soil and then when we began to find sources, used tools to remove sand around it. When we got close to the source, we used brushes and toothpicks to remove sand, acting delicately to not damage the artefact so it could be studied in situ, drawing the artefact and recording details about where it was found. We learnt it was important to establish a system to study artefacts in context with one another so archaeologists can develop an understanding of the history of the area. We then analysed sources, and my group analysed 3 different artefact replicas. 

This connected to our in-class learning of ancient Egyptian digs and modern archaeological work. Overall, this learning experience was a fun way to allow us to learn about Ancient Egyptian digs, and about modern archaeological work. I really enjoyed this because it allowed us to understand the archaeological field in an exciting way. I found it to be a valuable learning experience because it allowed me to put what I had learnt in the classroom into practice, and made me consider archaeology as a field to go into in the future. 

Claire Carroll (Year 10)