Archaeologist 10 25 21

• History
• Primary Education
• Age 11

8 minute narrative writing
Parents are our first and most important teachers. Describe a time when you learned a valuable lesson from one of your parents.

Learning Objectives

1. Explain how ancient civilizations and prehistoric periods relate to one another in time.
2. Identify archaeological sites.

What do you know about archaeologists ?

Archaeology provides information that gives a picture of

what ancient people and civilizations were like. Through artifacts, ruins, and ancient writings, researchers can piece together what lives were like long ago, such as who the ancient people were, what they did, and how they lived their lives.

1. Early hominins: 6 million to 1.8 million years ago

2. Neanderthals: 400,000 to 28,000 years ago

3.  Ancient China: 5000 BCE to 1600 BCE

4. Mesopotamia: 5000 BCE to 500 BCE

Early humans and civilizations thrive (grew) centuries ago. Thanks to archaeologists, they live on.

5. Ancient Egypt: 4500 BCE to 30 BCE

6. Megalithic civilizations: 5000 BCE to 1500 BCE

7. Ancient India: 4000 BCE to 1500 BCE

9. Ancient Greece: 1200 BCE to 323 BCE

10. Ancient Rome: 753 BCE to 476 CE

the numbered items relate to evidence of early humans

and ancient civilizations that has been found around the world.

Each cartoon image shows an important point,

accomplishment, or activity based on an artifact or archaeological find. What do you see?

Some facts about artifacts

The saying “You are what you eat” often rings true in archaeology. The daily diet of a people shows how healthy and wealthy the society was. It may be revealed by food-related remains such as seeds, pollen (plant spores), animal bones, campfire sites, and cooking tools.

What kinds of evidence help archaeologists learn
what people ate?

1. seeds
2. pollen
3. animal bones, cooking tools
4. all of the above

The royal tombs of ancient Egypt were filled with the richest foods available. Egyptians believed that the dead needed food in the afterlife. As their tombs reveal, most people there ate well, and royalty ate very, very well.

Food-related items aren’t the only clues we can use to discover the truths of past cultures. Three other rules also apply: You are what you wear, you are what you own, and you are what you live in. Look at what you eat, own, wear, and live in. What if you were frozen in time, and archaeologists of the 23rd century wanted to figure out how you lived? What wrong ideas – and right ideas – might they get from studying artifacts of your existence?

Stone Age people made axes, spears, scrapers, and other stone tools. Some knives made of flint (a stone that flakes easily) are as sharp as a modern surgeon’s knife. This skull underwent brain surgery 4,000 years ago. The holes in the head had begun to heal, which means the patient survived, at least for a while.

Which is better for cutting down trees: a stone ax or a bronze ax? Archaeologists hacked down trees with both kinds of axes and found that it makes no difference. Only iron (right) makes the job go faster. ▶

Honduras (1830s–1840s)

Maya Civilizations

For centuries, dense jungle hid the massive ruins of great cities built by the Maya. In 1839, archaeologists discovered CopÁn (ko-PAN), Honduras, and then found dozens of other long-lost sites.

Pottery – whether broken or intact – is the most commonly found artifact. Each culture has a distinct style, and the material, design, and colors may reflect the people’s ideas and beliefs. 

Pottery – whether broken or intact – is the most commonly found artifact. Each culture has a distinct style, and the material, design, and colors may reflect the people’s ideas and beliefs. 

What clues to a culture can be found on pottery artifacts?

1. materials
2. design
3. colors
4. all of the above

what tools do you use everyday that could seem like
interesting artifacts to someone from the future?

Remember what you have read about the methods and tools archaeologists

use to find evidence of people who lived long ago. Both archaeologists and historians use what they learn from artifacts to draw conclusions about what life was like and how people lived in

the past. Many of the artifacts found are tools or useful objects.

Today, clothes can be giveaways to a person’s origins. The same was true more than 3,800 years ago. Archaeologists found mummies with hair and clothes intact, all preserved naturally by the dry air and freezing winters. 

Typically, archaeologists are able to use ancient writings and art to understand dead civilizations. But that works only if they can read the messages in these artifacts. The Voynich manuscript (right), found in Italy, is about 600 years old, and it still has not been read. It’s written in Latin, but the words are in code, and they make no sense

The Voynich manuscript (right), found in Italy, is about 600 years old, and it still has not been read. It’s written in Latin, but the words are in code, and they make no sense

Who owns artifacts like this pottery vessel?

 In 1990, the U.S. government passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. It requires all museums to examine their collections of Native American objects and human remains. 

Each Native American nation must be notified if the museum has any of the nation’s ancestors’ material. A lot of this material has been returned to the correct peoples, especially human remains and sacred artifacts or objects used in funeral ceremonies.

Why is the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act important to Native American culture?

Writing a nonfiction Summary

Step 1. Write a main idea sentence using the following:   

A. Identify the type of text. (magazine, article, book)

B. Identify the verb.               C. Identify the topic.          D. Identify the big/ main idea.

Example: In the Ancient Egypt magazine, the author explores Ancient Egypt and the Egyptian lifestyle, culture, beliefs, and government.  

Step 2. Determine 2-3 important supporting details from the text. 

Verbs:

Examines        describes

sequences       observes

argues               defines

compares          contrasts

distinguishes

explores                 explains           studies

Write a summary of the text.