'Let's get them dirty'
At GR2021 we’ve had quite a few local school groups come to visit us over the last few weeks. It took a little while for SECAR to figure out how best to engage them. Turns out the answer was simple, ‘Let them get dirty!’
In every area that is excavated, the soil that gets removed is dumped into buckets. This then gets sieved in order to find any small artifacts or bone fragments that may have been missed in the process of excavating.
This is the perfect job for elementary and middle school kids, as there is almost always a small piece of ceramic, glass, or coffin nail to be found in the screen. Kids love this activity as it keeps them engaged and promotes a sense of connection to the project.
The last group even felt so excited about the prospect of finding things, they were scouring the access road adjacent to the site while awaiting their turn at the sieve!
One child said, ‘I’m looking for gold!’ Seeing the delight in their eyes, while learning about the site and archaeology, is priceless.
Photos: Archaeologists sieving dirt from site.
