Little Learners is a home education group that we run. This term we explored early civilizations and archaeological methods. This session looked at what was happening in Britain whilst these early civilizations were emerging. We "visited" sites of particular importance for neolithic and bronze age archaeology. (See Ancient Civilizations to see what we did in the other sessions.)
Skara Brae (a neolithic settlement on Orkney)
Evidence suggests the people living at Skara Brae scaled the cliffs to collect birds eggs to eat. We scaled the traversing wall whilst collecting paper eggs.
We looked at photographs of stone furniture found inside the Skara Brae settlement and made our own miniature stone walls and furniture.
Since archaeologists have discovered beads made from bone and teeth, we also made our own Neolithic style bone necklaces.
Sometimes archaeologists look to modern people for clues as to how prehistoric man may have lived. Inuit hunters in Greenland use nets to catch migrating birds. Perhaps some Neolithic ancestors did the same? We threw and caught "birds" (balloons filled with rice) in nets.
Stonehenge and the Avebury Complex
We constructed our own megalithic tombs and long barrows using boxes.
We made Beaker style pots by pressing patterns in clay. (This activity was enjoyed by the adults too!)
Flag Fen
Flag Fen is a bronze age site near Peterborough.
People appear to have thrown valuable objects into the waters, perhaps as an offering to a God or in the hope of good luck. We drew pictures of things to 'sacrifice' and threw them into our flag fen water.
Must Farm
Must Farm is the site of a fascinating bronze age dig in Cambridgeshire. It was once home to a settlement, built on a platform over the fens. A fire caused the structure and buildings to collapse in on themselves. The water logged soil into which they fell was ideal for preservation. The site has revealed many aspects of bronze age life.
We built paper versions of bronze age houses, complete with turfed roofs and hunted outdoors for patches of nettles (paper ones) to make our clothes from.
We had a go at making our own wattle and daub style walls.
Neolithic Farmers
Neolithic farmers started to plant grains like barley and wheat and made baskets by weaving plants like willow. We tried using stones to grind grain into flour and some of us tried to weave mini baskets using raffia. Other children (and adults!) had a go at weaving on a mini loom.
Neolithic Hunter and Cook
Our Neolithic hunter showed us replica stone age tools and explained what they were used for. Some of us tried cutting a tomato with one. (The replica ones are much, much blunter than the real thing!) We also mixed up flour into a primitive form of bread. We were hoping to cook this outside on a fire, but the weather had other plans! We ate our indoor cooked bread with honey.
Bronze Age Farmer
Bronze Age sheep were not shorn but plucked or combed for their wool. We found sheep around the building and collected a little wool from each. We then had a go at using a drop spindle.
Related Adventures