Students started with a 'blanket dig' where archaeologists set up artefacts from different periods of history on different blankets. The blankets are removed layer-by-layer to uncover each period – starting with a deflated football, orange peel and a tin can from the current period through helmets from WWII, a coin from Roman times and human remains from the Iron Age. Fascinating stuff! They also learnt some of the skills of an archaeologist like sorting and washing finds with a toothbrush ready for closer examination. They unearthed pottery from different periods including a piece they thought was a bottle stopper. They seemed particularly interested in finding animal bones.
The blanket dig:
