Door Parts:
hinges, knob, stopper, bell, house number, etc.
Fishing Items:
bobber, swivel, reel parts, leader, lures (with no hooks), etc.
Painting supplies: different brushes, masking tape, can lids, screwdriver, etc.
Knitting Item:
Needles, yarn, scissors, etc.
Note: Broken pieces or individual parts of items work well
to form a realistic problem archaeologist have with finding broken artifacts.
Items that can be used for multiple purposes also work well. In example, the
screwdriver included with paint supplies could be used for unscrewing electrical
covers or for opening paint cans.
Artifact Groups should each be placed in a box or bag
and marked as an individual excavation square (Square A, Square B, etc.). The
individual artifacts should also be marked according to their site, and
individual number (A-1, A-2, B-1, B-2, etc.). In this fashion, any artifact can
be distinguished from any other artifact in case they are separated from their
boxes or bags. This will also aid when discussing the artifacts later. You will
need 5 to 8 boxes depending on the size of your class.
Activities:
1) Placed students into groups of 2-4. Give each group a
copy of the recording sheet shown below. They will need one sheet for each box
of artifacts you prepared.
2) Pass one box or bag of artifacts to each students
or groups of students. Have each student mark the Square # (number or letter
identifying the box or bag) on their paper.
3) Next have the students start analyzing the
artifacts. If it is something they know, then they can use its real name (i.e.
a spoon). If it is something they don’t know, then they can make up a name
which would be suitable for the item. The students should write down what they
think the primary use of that artifact was given the other artifact found
around it. They should do this for all the items in the site they have.
Square # _________ Name:
____________________
Artifact
# Artifact Name Primary
Use
1) ______ ______________________ __________________________
2) ______ ______________________ __________________________
3) ______ ______________________ __________________________
4) ______ ______________________ __________________________
5) ______ ______________________ __________________________
What is the main activity taking place in this square?
__________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
What are other activities that may be taking place or
information you can tell about the people?
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
4) Once the students have completed the artifact
descriptions for each of the artifacts from an individual square, they then
need to look at the artifacts together. At the bottom of the paper, the
students should write down what human activities are represented by the group
of artifacts.
In example:
Square #1
(Painting supplies: paint brush, paint can lid, screwdriver, waded up masking
tape, door hinge)
Main
Activity: Someone is painting doors.
Other
Activities:
-Paint
brush and can are evidence that someone was painting something.
-Parts
from door suggest that someone was painting a door.
-Can
lid had orange paint, thus they were painting orange.
-Brush
was large, thus they were not painting small designed.
-Someone
owned a door that needed painting.
-In
this time period, people knew about paint.
-Orange
was an acceptable color to paint a door.
-The
hinge was fancy suggesting that this person was not poor.
-Hinge
was label "Made in China" suggests people traded with China.
-People
of this time period had doors.
-It
was probably a warm time of year, paint does not dry well in winter, and
people
need their doors to stay warm.
5) Have the student do several different squares. Do
not let the students share information between groups until the end discussion.
6) Conduct a class discussion for each square. Have
different groups explain what their theories were about the human activity
occurring in each part of the site. Talk with the class about how these are
theories, so that none of the answers are right or wrong. They can just be
argued for or against.
7) For Middle or High School students you could then
have the students look at all the squares together to examine the site as a
whole. Have them answer questions such as:
●
What were the main activities of the people occupying this site?
●
How are the different activities at the site related?
●
Which of the activities at the site were preformed by women? men? children?
●
Are there any artifacts the may indicate what season of the year it was?
●
Can you tell what year the site was occupied?
**This lesson plan was developed by Dan Goatley, Eaton Rapids Public Schools 6th Grade Teacher, a Registered Professional Archaeologist, and a member of both the Conference on Michigan Archaeology and the Michigan Archaeological Society.