Fishtank archaeology helps pupils to understand more about chronology and time periods, as they can see the different layers and the thickness of each. You will need:

A clear plastic box for each small group

“Artefacts” from different times (which the children could make from clay)

Potting compost

Play sand

Plasticine

Recording sheets

Strong food bags

Preparation

Line the bottom of boxes with plasticine, to represent the bedrock (the layer before archaeology is found). Create a soilsand mix in bags.

Activity

We discussed stratigraphy (the layers of archaeology). We handed out the artefacts in chronological order. The children chose where to put them and what story to tell, which they record. They then create the next layer.

Follow-up

Swap boxes for excavation and interpretation. This emphasises how our interpretations differ from the “truth”

Websites

www.britarch.ac.ukyac

www.kidsdigreed.comgames.asp

www.cr.nps.govarcheologypublickidsindex.htm

Books

Archeology (DK Eyewitness Books) by Jane R McIntosh, DK Publishing (Jun 2000) A Street through Time by Anne Millard, Steve Noon, Dorling Kindersley (Oct 1998) Sarah Dhanjal Camden@UCL Young Archaeologists’ Club