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To begin our study of Early Humans, we first learn about archaeology, and how we know what we know about the past.  Last Friday, two archaeologists from UC Berkeley, Flavio and Peter, set up a class dig.  We excavated two sites, and learned what it takes to be an archaeologist while doing so.  We also had tons of fun!  Read some of our reflections and view pictures of the visit below:
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First, Flavio and Peter explained how archaeologists do thier jobs.
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Next, we used brushes to unearth artifacts.
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Then, we measured the artifact to indicate where it belonged on our map of hte site.
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After that, we drew the artifacts on our map, and wrote down details about the artifacts we found.
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Finally, we categorized the artifacts, and placed them in bags. We discussed the artifacts we found and made inferences about where they came from and who used them.

Student Reflections:

"I think that it's important to have a lot of imagination to be an archaeologist, because when you find something you need to think about how it got there, why it is there, and what that place was like before you."
-Vanessa

"What was hard about the excavation was that when you see an artifact you couldn't just pull it out with your hands.  You have to leave it where it is to measure and map it."
-Jose

"My group found a lot of broken plates, and a piece of a bowl.  Also we found a bean, and other seeds.  I think our site was a kitchen because these are artifacts you would find in a kitchen."
-Diamond

"I learned that you set up a dig facing North, but the coolest thing I learned was when we experienced what it's like to be an archaeologist.  I want to learn more about history and science after this investigation."
-Sidhartha

"I learned that archaeologists use brushes to look for things.  I think that's really clever because that way if it is broken or poisonous they can clean it with the brush with out damaging anything.  My favorite part of the presentation was when we used the brushes and switched roles to draw and describe the things we found because I felt like an archaeologist like Flavio and Peter."
-Ana

"I found broken pieces of pottery and an object that looked like a mushroom with a seed on it.  It felt like a softened rock."
-Alvin
9/23/2009 11:57:21 pm

Awesome stuff. My cousin was an archeology major at Boston College and was able to travel to Greece one summer to work on a dig. She now works as an archeologist on a dig in downtown Philadelphia recovering artifacts from the 1700s (when George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin lived in Philadelphia). She loves it.

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Cathy Taruskin
9/24/2009 10:36:07 am

Hello 6th grade humanities! I loved your stories, and I have one to tell you. It's about my son's 6th (?) grade archeology experience. He had a GREAT teacher (like Ms. Smith!). The class was divided into 3 groups. Each group invented its own culture, determining how it got food, what it did for entertainment, what they worshipped, how it was governed, what the roles of men, women and children were, etc. The groups had to document all the details about their culture, but keep it secret from the other groups. Then each group painted a large mural on a clay slab that depicted all aspects of its society. Next they shattered the murals, and each group buried the mural fragments in one section of the playground. They waited a few weeks. Then each group dug in the area of another's burial grounds -- using the techniques you just learned -- and collected the fragments of the mural, saving them in brown paper grocery bags. The plan was that the next day each group would try to piece together all the fragments, draw as many conclusions about the culture that they could, and report to the whole class. They would discover how close or far away they came from describing the actual culture the other group had invented. I remember my son telling me each day what they had done, and being excited about working on the puzzle on a Friday afternoon -- it was going to be the climax of a month-long project... except the janitor didn't know about the assignment, saw the bags full of dirty broken clay in the storage room, and threw it all away! Who knows how many janitors in the last few thousand years have done the same?

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Dianne Stauffer
10/18/2009 01:20:28 pm

WOW!!! This all sounds so exciting. Are adults allowed to repeat 6th grade??

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