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Nancy Detchon

Aug 19, 2015

Things to do in the summer holidays!

Of course, it’s that time of year when parents, who may be teachers and vice versa, are looking for things to do with bored, restless and indifferent children, who need prising away from their tablet or games machine. Then there’s the weather to consider, and its pretty gloomy outside right now and going to get gloomier and wetter if the forecast is to be believed. Step forward that old stalwart ‘the museum visit’! Sometimes, there are really good galleries and displays that

Nancy Detchon

Jun 15, 2015

Tools and evolution – worth revisiting.

Back in January BBC Radio 4’s History of Ideas broadcast a piece by Dr Matt Pope of University College London in which he explored the idea and use of technology and how it helped drive human evolution. If you missed it, don’t worry as you can now access it on the Radio 4 website and listen to the podcast. It is only 10 mins long but it packs a lot into it! There are themes in there which can be linked to a number of areas of the National Curriculum which can feed into progra

What do archaeologists actually do? Refitting or piecing together the past .

Nancy Detchon

May 27, 2015

What do archaeologists actually do? Refitting or piecing together the past .

Here’s the second in our occasional series of what archaeologists actually do, beyond excavating. You might want to look at What do archaeologists actually do? for the first. One of the activities I use in workshops for children is called “Piecing together the past ” where they try to figure out what the artefacts found during excavation are and whether they are complete. As part of this activity, I ask them to try to fit the pieces of the object back together again. This is

Nancy Detchon

Apr 22, 2015

Were our ancestors cannibals?

The subject of cannibalism in prehistory is one that has rumbled on in archaeological circles for quite some time and it has recently surfaced again with the publication of research into some of the human remains found in Gough’s Cave in Somerset. How can we identify cannibalism? Until fairly recently, it has been very difficult to identify evidence of cannibalism, but for many archaeologists the key is the analysis of any close similarities in the prehistoric treatment of th

The Palaeolithic – Part 3: the things people made and used

Nancy Detchon

Apr 21, 2015

The Palaeolithic – Part 3: the things people made and used

Archaeologists are, of course, very interested in the things that people in the past made, used and eventually disposed of. We have just a sample of these things to give us clues to life in the deep past, but even these few objects have been of tremendous help to us, particularly when they have been interpreted in conjunction with other information such as environmental data. Unequal distribution The Palaeolithic in Britain lasts for over 700,000 years and during that time th

KS2 teachers, what can you find out about . . . the Palaeolithic?

Nancy Detchon

Mar 26, 2015

KS2 teachers, what can you find out about . . . the Palaeolithic?

You might think that finding information on the archaeology of the Palaeolithic of the area you live and work in might be difficult. Well, think again. Each county in England and Wales for example is required to maintain a register of all archaeological sites, find spots, listed buildings etc. It is known as the Historic Environment Record or HER. It used to be called the Sites and Monuments Record or SMR – you may come across this at some point! As with many other things, th

Nancy Detchon

Mar 9, 2015

The Palaeolithic – Part 2: The Environment

As you might well imagine, over the course of almost a million years the environment in what we now call Britain has changed considerably. These changes, including several ice ages have left their mark on both the archaeology and the land itself. What we offer here is a brief overview of a long and very complex history, but one we feel will help you explain this aspect of Prehistoric Britain to your pupils. Glacials and Interglacials The climate of Palaeolithic Britain is ac

Nancy Detchon

Mar 2, 2015

The Promised Palaeololithic – Part 1!

So, as promised in our last post about teaching prehistory in KS2, here we go into more detail about the Palaeolithic – just what you’ve been waiting for! However, because there is so much to say, we can’t say it all at once, so here is… The Promised Palaeolithic – part 1 For most people, including many archaeologists, the Palaeolithic (the Old Stone Age) is something of a mystery. It covers an enormous period of time and has, compared to other periods we study, relatively li

Art, Cave Art and Prehistory: A Study day.

Nancy Detchon

Feb 25, 2015

Art, Cave Art and Prehistory: A Study day.

The day has something for everyone who wants to know more about art in prehistory. There are short talks from 6 leading experts in the field and they will be talking about art from the Palaeolithic to the ‘Celtic’ art of the Iron Age and from Portugal to Croatia. I think this would be an ideal taster day for KS2/3 teachers who want to know just a little bit more about art in prehistory and have the chance to talk to some real experts on the subject. The event will be held o

Nancy Detchon

Feb 19, 2015

Teaching the Stone Age to Iron Age – where to begin?

Teaching ‘Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age’ is now required as part of KS2 History curriculum in England. For many teachers, this means tackling a completely new subject and facing the task of finding appropriate sources to build up their knowledge. Whilst there are many sources of information out there, they can be difficult to navigate and know which to trust. So, as promised in an earlier blog post and encouraged by teachers we have spoken to, we are h

Nancy Detchon

Jan 19, 2015

Stone Age to Iron Age in Cheshire

What a wonderful day we had in Cheshire! Armed with our trenches, tools and artefacts, Dr Ian Parker Heath (trusty archaeologist husband and colleague) and I, made our acquaintance with Lower KS 2 at Offley Primary School in Sandbach. We explored prehistory from the Palaeolithic to the coming of the Romans, covering what the new primary history curriculum calls ‘Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age’. After ‘training’ to get the children thinking like archaeol

Nancy Detchon

Jan 18, 2015

Teaching ‘changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age’

At the end of my prehistoric archaeology workshops, teachers often say to me that they have learned as much as the children have. Of course, they may just be being polite, but after further conversation, it transpires that many teachers are, in fact, learning alongside the children they are teaching. After even further conversation, it becomes apparent that they might just appreciate a bit of a helping hand. So, with this in mind we (my archaeologist husband and I) have set a

Nancy Detchon

Jan 17, 2015

Prehistoric Levenshulme!

After delivering a workshop covering the Stone Age to Iron Age to Y4s at St Andrews CE Primary School in Levenshulme in October, the beginning of 2015 saw me returning to delve deeper into the Stone Age with Y3s. The second visit saw me ensconced in a brand new ‘dance studio’, which proved to be the perfect place for our excavations of the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. Animal bones, charcoal, waste flakes and artefacts of each period (with ‘toolkits’ provided by the

Nancy Detchon

Nov 30, 2014

Back to the Stone Age for Ormskirk!

Y3s at Aughton St Michaels CE Primary School in Ormskirk became archaeologists for the morning when they excavated artefacts from the Stone Age. Over three hours, the children were ‘trained’ to become archaeologists, to think like archaeologists and to understand how we excavate. Armed with these skills, they dug up objects from the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic and analysed what they had found, thinking about what objects can tell us about how people lived in the pa

Nancy Detchon

Nov 19, 2014

Archaeology Day at Garstang

I love delivering Archaeology Days, because Archaeology Days allow time for me to really develop children’s interest and enable them to progress from one activity to another. Hopefully, by the end of the day they leave for home with a good grasp of what archaeology is, what it sets out to achieve and some information about the period they are studying, as well as smiling faces at a day well spent! One such day was had at Garstang Community Primary School in Lancashire, when w

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