Archaeology Scotland

What is archaeology?

Archaeology is the study of people and societies in the past through the examination of their material remains. By studying buildings, artefacts and environmental evidence, archaeologists can begin to reconstruct past societies and environments.

Archaeology is a discipline that crosses boundaries between the arts, social sciences and science subjects. It makes use of a number of different techniques including excavation, aerial photography, surveying, field-walking and laboratory analysis.

Archaeology Scotland and education

By promoting the study of archaeology by children and young people in Scotland Archaeology Scotland supports the delivery of Curriculum for Excellence. Archaeology is an excellent way to promote interdisciplinary learning, use local contexts and develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning. It makes effective links between different subject areas and calls upon a variety of skills. It is both practical and theoretical and offers students an engaging, hands-on way of exploring the past and the environment.

Workshops in or out of school

Archaeology Scotland's Outreach programme is one of its most popular and successful initiatives. The Outreach team present interactive workshops at public events such as science festivals and environmental fairs and promote archaeology to the public as fun for all ages. They also run archaeology workshops in schools and special schools. They are currently in the process of extending the schools outreach programme and expanding their network of volunteer ‘archaeological demonstrators’.

Resources

Archaeology Scotland provides a loans service to schools and community groups in Scotland who wish to borrow their resources.

Materials for interactive workshops
Schools can borrow materials to run various workshops in the classroom. The Ancient Technology workshop gives children the chance to use ancient techniques such as drilling, writing with styli and quill pens, and spinning and weaving. The Work of an Archaeologist workshop looks at how archaeologists find out about the past, and includes a simulated dig box full of artefacts to be discovered.

Artefact investigation kits
Archaeology Scotland also manages a teaching collection of artefacts on behalf of the National Museums of Scotland. This includes original artefacts ranging from Neolithic pottery, stone tools and arrowheads, to bronze weapons, Roman nails and tiles. Artefact investigation kits currently available to borrow include Roman Scotland, Fantastic Flint and Iron-age Scotland.

Online resources
Online resources include: links to online archaeology games and activities, ideas for teachers, downloadable guides to surveying and archaeological drawing techniques.

Young Archaeologists' Club

The Young Archaeologists' Club (YAC) is the only national club of its kind for young people interested in archaeology. Archaeology Scotland coordinates and supports the various YAC branches across Scotland, where children aged 8-16 can learn about and get involved in their local archaeology.