‘Archaeological Dig’
Learning Outcomes:
Resources:
To think critically about what we can learn
from an object from the past
Range of artefacts
 Bone pin
 Horn cup
 Necklace of Thor’s hammer
 Viking coins
To understand that by looking at artefacts
closely, we can begin to imagine what life
was like for other people in the past.
Sand
Brushes
Box of sand
Recording sheet
Prior Learning:
Children have learnt about Viking raids and warriors
Whole Class/Group work
Explain how historians use historical knowledge as well as evidence in front of them to piece
together facts about the past.
In this lesson they will be unearthing artefacts and carefully studying them to see what we can learn
about Viking life.
Children pick out an historical object from a sand pit, brush it off and take it back to their group.
They:
 Draw and label the object
 Suggest what the object is
Suggest what it was used for
 Suggest who would have used/made/worn the artefact.
Plenary
As a class, draw any conclusions about Viking life from the object.
Q. What is it about the object that makes you think that?
Q. What did we learn purely from the object?
Q. What prior knowledge did we use to inform our opinions about the object?
By Alexa Vickery of Headley Park Primary School, Bristol