How to….use Archaeology to teach Social Studies at Primary school

What is Archaeology?

Archaeology is the study of people and societies in the past through the examination of

their material remains. Material remains can literally be anything left behind by people in

the past. These can include standing remains of buildings from any period, objects either

common or unusual, textiles, art, plant remains, animal bones or human remains. By

studying this evidence, archaeologists can begin to reconstruct past societies and

environments. Archaeology is a discipline that crosses boundaries between the arts, social

sciences and science subjects. It makes use of a number of different techniques including

excavation (digging for remains), using aerial photography to identify evidence for sites

which might not be visible on the ground, surveying remains on the ground to record sites,

field-walking to identify any small artefacts on the ground which might point to the

existence of a site below ground, experimental archaeology to try and recreate how people

lived in the past and laboratory analysis of bones and plant remains. Archaeology can give

insights into the study of any period and is the principle means of studying the prehistoric

era. Archaeology can, however, be any material remains older than about fifty years.

How can Archaeology be used to deliver Social Studies?

Archaeology is the perfect tool to deliver multi-disciplinary learning. It encompasses a huge

range of skills and uses expertise from a wide range of areas, including biological sciences,

chemistry, physics, history and geography. Archaeology sits in the past, but also in the

present as part of our

landscape and as a reminder

that, quite often, the

landscape is not natural, but

was shaped by our ancestors.

Through studying the past

and the influence of humans

on the land, both History and

Geography can be covered

through the lens of

archaeology.

The remains of the past

across the landscape also

gives rise to the issue of how those remains are cared for and the value that we place on

them and the share of the land we give to them when our ever growing population is

demanding more and more space for living.

Much of the excavations which are currently taking place across the UK are in advance of

development work, either for transport infrastructure or building developments. In

addition, there are the known remains of the historic environment, some of which is cared

for by Historic Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland and which are important in

telling the story of Scotland as well as being a key component in Scotland’s tourist industry

and therefore contributing to our modern day economy.

It is in this area of the historic environment landscape, the standing remains of the past and

how this affects both our present and our future, that the subjects of History, Geography

and Modern Studies can most coherently be brought together through archaeology.

Below are some ideas for projects which can achieve this.

1. Introduction to Archaeology – How do we find out about the past?

This project introduces students to the idea that objects and sites are also evidence for the past and

serves as an introduction to archaeology and what it can tell us about the past. Use the series of

activities from Archaeology Scotland to explore how we can find out about the past through

archaeology. “Dustbin Detectives” helps to work out how we can find out information about the

people in the past through what they have thrown out. “Rot or Not” explores materials and how

they survive in different conditions – depending on the conditions on each site will depend on which

materials survive. In addition, there are activities which help learners to understand what objects

can tell us about the past – “Who would live in a grave like this” and the Storytelling Investigation

Kit. The link to all of these resources is below.

2. Local study – My Street/the High Street

This project uses the local area to help

pupils to find out more about the past.

You may want to use the framework in

“Archaeology Detectives” or the activities

in the Industrial Archaeology Artefact

Investigation kit to help in this study. You

can find historical maps online and use

local census records as a written resource.

These can either be applied to the local

high street, or to pupil’s own street. Can

they find out who has lived in their house?

You could then use the information gathered to create a map of the whole town or area at one

particular point in the past, for example, 150 years ago.

3. Local study - Who lived here and why?

People in the past had a much closer

relationship with the landscape than we do

today. When choosing where to live,

natural features played an important part,

for example Mesolithic people would

always camp near water and on high

ground; Neolithic people preferred to clear

trees to build their house; Iron Age people

would use either stone or wood to build

their houses, depending on what was most

plentiful; Romans would often establish

forts near river crossings and Medieval

castles would be built on areas commanding a clear view and easily defensible. Later, various

industries were established depending on the availability of natural resources. Following on from

that, transport links were built to facilitate the movement of goods. You can explore the natural

features of your area to help you understand how it developed.

Begin by looking at the landscape, maybe using something like the satellite map on Google. What

would the landscape look like without the town there? If you were deciding where to build the

town, where would you choose and why? If you are studying a particular period, you could build up

a picture of what the area was like and then see how the natural features were used. For example, if

your area was a small village in Medieval times, but then grew to a large town in the nineteenth

century, what helped it to grow? Once again, you might find it useful to use “Archaeological

Detectives” to help you pull together all the evidence about your area, or the “Houses and

Settlements” activity contained in the Iron Age Artefact Investigation Kit.

Sources of information

Archaeology Scotland resources - www.archaeologyscotland.org.uk/?q=node/3

Maps – Digital Historical maps are available from the National Library of Scotland:

http://maps.nls.uk

Photographs – SCRAN has the best collection of photographs on almost any time period or subject:

http://scran.ac.uk

In addition there is an online collection of aerial photographs called “Britain from Above”. These can

be accessed at: www.britainfromabove.org.uk

Historic Environment Record – The Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments

(RCAHMS) holds the national record of the historic environment, which includes location

information, site details and images of more than 300,000 archaeological, architectural,

maritime and industrial sites throughout Scotland. www.rcahms.gov.uk/canmore

Some local councils, such as East and Mid Lothian (www.eastlothian.gov.uk/archaeology)

and Highland (her.highland.gov.uk/) also have their own Historic Environment records

available online with similar information.