longer program: four hour simulated excavation (Full day immersion)
The aim of the I Dig Archaeology! program is to give students greater insight into the discipline of archaeology by engaging them in the archaeological process in its entirety. Students come to understand the scientific nature of archaeology: archaeologists begin with a research question or hypothesis to test. Fieldwork is conducted (be it salvage work, survey, excavation, heritage management or others) and data is collected (usually in the form of material culture). This data is then recorded and analysed in the context of the original research question (although it can be the case that the original research question(s) are significantly altered, or even thrown out the window, as the fieldwork progresses!). The data and its analysis is then published or presented in some way for the wider community.
This notion of archaeology as a scientific endeavour is somewhat incongruent with the Indiana Jones popular stereotype of archaeology! Here lies a significant challenge for archaeology educators. The structure of the IDA program reflects the effort to strike that delicate balance between student expectations of an exciting, adventurous and highly engaging educational experience, with a more realistic archaeological experience which reflects the reality that the vast majority of an archaeologist's time is actually spent off-site. Thus, time within the program is allocated so that all stages of the archaeological process are engaged with appropriately. This means that the actual excavation phase of the simulation, whilst being the most exciting, is not given undue emphasis for entertainment's sake.
The simulated excavation program can encompass the full school day, with students experiencing 4 hours of archaeological work. The general structure of the day is as follows:
This notion of archaeology as a scientific endeavour is somewhat incongruent with the Indiana Jones popular stereotype of archaeology! Here lies a significant challenge for archaeology educators. The structure of the IDA program reflects the effort to strike that delicate balance between student expectations of an exciting, adventurous and highly engaging educational experience, with a more realistic archaeological experience which reflects the reality that the vast majority of an archaeologist's time is actually spent off-site. Thus, time within the program is allocated so that all stages of the archaeological process are engaged with appropriately. This means that the actual excavation phase of the simulation, whilst being the most exciting, is not given undue emphasis for entertainment's sake.
The simulated excavation program can encompass the full school day, with students experiencing 4 hours of archaeological work. The general structure of the day is as follows:
|
PROGRAM PHASE
Introduction to the Fieldwork Fieldwork Lunch break Post-excavation analysis of material culture |
DURATION **
30 minutes 120 minutes (including a 15 minute recess break) 
Student excavator at work
Sieving for small finds
30 minutes 90 minutes 
Students formulating a bead typology
Photographic registration spreadsheet using Google docs
Radiocarbon report
|
DESCRIPTION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL TASKS
* Students discuss the reasons archaeologist's conduct fieldwork, in particular the nature of salvage excavation (as this is how the simulation is couched). * Students divide into the excavation teams (4 teams of approx. 6 students) and plan their dig strategy. Using their budget of 'dig dollars', teams allocate their budget to excavation equipment, securing the necessary Governmental permissions, enough for any emergency situations that may arise, as well as budgeting for the production of scientific reports analysing the material they excavate. The more scientific reports they can afford when analysing their material culture, the more information they will be able to use and interpret for their excavation report! * Students are issued with their official excavation logs, where they will record their learning throughout the day. Firstly, they will be issued with a 'dig permit' (conditional upon their completion of the pre-incursion online fieldwork tutorials) and a stamp in their log. From there, as they engage with the excavation, recording and analysis tasks, students receive 'proficiency points' in their log for the different individual and group tasks they complete. Students also have to keep a record in their own log of the progress of the day's fieldwork, and their observations about the site. * Students are provided with a short recap of the field equipment to be used and its correct usage. Their skills with this equipment will be continually guided throughout the excavation. * In teams of approximately six, students excavate their designated square (0.9m x 1.25m) rotating tasks such as excavation, sieving, labelling and bagging artefacts, completing digital excavation proformas on tablets, planning features and artefact contexts and photographing artefacts in-situ. * At the completion of the excavation, when all tasks are finished, students clean excavation equipment. * In excavation teams, students sort and clean recovered artefacts. * Students are regrouped (4s) and given an artefact 'type' to record and analyse, eg. pottery, beads, or metal objects. Students must describe, classify, formulate typologies (for artefacts such as pottery and beads), register artefacts in a database (using Google docs for real time collaboration), photograph, draw, reach their own scientific conclusions (for example by looking at the fabric of the pottery under a hand-held microscope) and suggest areas for further scientific analysis (if students propose valid avenues of scientific analysis, eg. residue analysis for pottery or C14 dating for charcoal, and they have been budgeted for, they will be issued with a replica scientific report on-the-spot to consider when interpreting their artefacts). * Students use the literature provided to help them interpret and contextualise their artefacts, eg. an article on pigment shells from UR in Mesopotamia. * Each group makes a short oral presentation to their peers about the artefacts and the conclusions they have drawn. * The entire cohort engages in a discussion of the interpretation of the site as a whole. |
** Timing and duration of activities are a guide only. Adjustments may be made to suit the timetabling of individual schools.
By the end of the program, students have produced a large corpus of digital material from the fieldwork and analysis: excavation proformas, artefact proformas, artefact and photographic databases, photographs, sketches, site plans and scientific reports. Students should use this material when engaging in the final stage of the archaeological process - the reporting phase. This stage of the program should be supervised by the classroom teacher.
During this final stage, there is considerable scope for teachers to include task differentiation which may be assessable. For example, students may be asked to produce a presentation of the excavation, either as a standard site report, a website with a linked archive of data, a multimedia public lecture or an online museum display. A range of assessable tasks for all year levels have been prepared for teachers based on student participation in the IDA program.
The structure provided in detail here is typical for the Stage 6 program. The program is otherwise appropriately graded for stages 3, 4 and 5 students to suit their cognitive level. Although all students engage in the same archaeological processes, modifications are made in the language of teaching and learning, the complexity of tasks undertaken in the field and lab, and the expectations of task proficiency. It must be remembered that students are not being taught to be professional excavators, and new concepts (most of which these will undoubtedly be) should be pitched at the right level.
By the end of the program, students have produced a large corpus of digital material from the fieldwork and analysis: excavation proformas, artefact proformas, artefact and photographic databases, photographs, sketches, site plans and scientific reports. Students should use this material when engaging in the final stage of the archaeological process - the reporting phase. This stage of the program should be supervised by the classroom teacher.
During this final stage, there is considerable scope for teachers to include task differentiation which may be assessable. For example, students may be asked to produce a presentation of the excavation, either as a standard site report, a website with a linked archive of data, a multimedia public lecture or an online museum display. A range of assessable tasks for all year levels have been prepared for teachers based on student participation in the IDA program.
The structure provided in detail here is typical for the Stage 6 program. The program is otherwise appropriately graded for stages 3, 4 and 5 students to suit their cognitive level. Although all students engage in the same archaeological processes, modifications are made in the language of teaching and learning, the complexity of tasks undertaken in the field and lab, and the expectations of task proficiency. It must be remembered that students are not being taught to be professional excavators, and new concepts (most of which these will undoubtedly be) should be pitched at the right level.