Scotlands Culture

Archaeology and Curriculum for Excellence

An image of a young boy with surveying equipment

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 experimental archaeology, excavation, aerial photography, surveying, field walking and laboratory analysis.

Archaeology can give insights into the study of any period and is the principle means of studying the prehistoric period.

Archaeology Scotland and education

In line with Curriculum for Excellence, archaeology promotes interdisciplinary learning, an appreciation of Scotland’s heritage and development as a nation and innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

Archaeology makes effective links between different curriculum areas and calls upon a variety of skills; it is both practical and theoretical and offers students a hands-on way of exploring the past and the environment.

Find out more

Archaeology is a multi-disciplinary subject and can provide a range of cross-cutting learning experiences.

Download Archaeology and Curriculum for Excellence as a PDF document:

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