Create your own dig

You can create your own archaeological dig at home!

First, find yourself a place to set up your dig. You can use a sandpit, or an area in your garden, or use a big box. Ideally, you should have different layers such as a layer of play sand, gravel, soil and top soil.

Set the objects you will be burying into different groups and start burying each group in a different layer. Note the various items buried in 3 different layers in the opposite page. Now, you can start to dig.

Get your archaeological kit and dig out carefully with the spade. Once you notice a find, use your trowel to remove the material from around the object more cautiously. As soon as part of the object becomes visible, use the brush to sweep away the material gently, so as not to damage the find. Before removing the find, take a picture of it as part of the documentation. Remove the object and put it in a plastic or paper bag, together with a label marking the pit’s name (eg. PIT 1) and the layer (eg. LEVEL 2). Continue working like this until you remove all the material from the dig.

Now, it is time to do some study in your lab to get a close-up look at the finds you have uncovered. Remove carefully each item one by one and draw them on a paper. Observe each item carefully, its texture, colour and size, and write down your observations. After finishing this work, look at all your finds. What story do they tell you?