House 43 Digest Online

The following is a reflection of the first phase of House 43’s experience as Junior Archaeologists. First the children reviewed the roles and responsibilities while at the dig site. While we typed their thoughts and projected them on the SmartBoard, the children worked together to create this guide to 3rd grade excavation. This was a group activity where one child would start a definition for a specific role and then the rest of the class would help to refine the definition. Lastly, each child remarked on his or her favorite memory of excavating.

3rd Grade Excavation: Roles and Responsibilities

Washer: When an artifact is found, the washers dry brush if the artifact is metal, paper, leather or bone; or wash the artifact if it would not rust, like pottery or gold. The washer’s job is to make sure the artifact is clean and there is not dirt all over it.

Excavator: When you are an excavator, your job is to dig up the artifacts from one square (quadrant) at a time, and you also have to get the dirt onto a plate and hand it to the screener. The tools you use to excavate are a trowel and a brush. When you are using the trowel you have to use the side to dig smoothly. Once you find an artifact, you brush it off so you can see it clearly.

Recorder: After an artifact is washed, it is brought to the recorder. The recorder stamps a card and writes what level the artifact was found in, what square it was in, and a description of what the artifact looks like.

Mapper/Logger: When an excavator finds an artifact, the mapper sketches the artifact on a sheet of paper that divides squares A, B, C, and D. They draw the picture in the area of the square that the artifact was found in. The logger writes down a description of the artifact that was found, and the name of the square.

Screener: The screener takes the plate from the excavator and puts it in the screen and shakes it into the giant wooden box and checks that nothing small was missed by the excavators. As you dig deeper the dirt is easier to screen, and falls more quickly through the screen. You need to be careful to hold the screen over the big box. Be sure to close your eyes until the dust settles!

Our Memories …

“The first artifact we found in our archaeological dig was very exciting for me.” (LB)

“When we found the firearm, it was lying on the side of the box.” (LCR)

“When we found the huge axe that covered A and C it was cool because it was really big.” (DT)

“When we found the big swords it was cool because they were big and one was in a sheath and they were also still very, very dangerous.” (BR)

“When we found a box, and when we opened it there were a lot of spices in it and it was cool because you could still use the spices and they smelled. There was cinnamon, and it smelled like cinnamon.” (ZP)

“Going down to archaeology for the first time was really fun because it seemed really different and we’d never done it before so it was cool to start.” (CM)

“When we found the only club it was heavy to hold and it was scary to hold.” (OF)

“My favorite memory from archaeology was when we found the first artifact because I never thought that we would find something so quickly just like that.” (LA)

“I liked when we found that big helmet.” (MR)

“When we found something that looked like a folder and we opened it up and there was a small painting inside. It was really cool because it was the first time we had ever found anything on paper.” (MG)

“My favorite memory from archaeology was when we were getting our smocks on, Neil was telling us that the dirt was getting less and it could fall down more easily, and if you held it over yourself it would fall on your shoes. I felt like a real archaeologist.” (OGP)

“My favorite memory of archaeology was when we finished digging all the dirt out of the box and we were excited that we found all the artifacts.” (EA)

“My favorite memory from archaeology was washing the first and only crystal we found. It was a really cool crystal and it was so shiny.” (NC)

“My favorite archaeological experience is when we didn’t even start digging, and we saw a movie about how to be an archaeologist and I felt really excited that we were going to do this project. I felt like it was going to be really fun.” (FB)

“I remember washing a dagger and it was really fun, but scary. I sort of felt like I was in an imaginary world but I also felt like I might have nightmares. I didn’t.” (RG)

“My favorite part of excavating, was the looks on House 43 students’ faces each time an artifact was uncovered, and how they worked together to get the jobs done.” (JS)

“My favorite part of excavating (or possibly least favorite) was listening to the shouts of utter and complete joy that came from House 43 students as they explained to each other what was uncovered in the last session.” (TF)

The following group of paragraphs were written by House 43 as a class. Students offered ideas and sentences to the group while looking at and analyzing the artifacts from level one of our Kashgar, China dig site. The inferences made by House 43 students in these paragraphs present possible explanations as to why these artifacts were found together in the same place. Enjoy!

We think the first level of our site is a merchant’s house or antique store because we found many things that are precious like the jewels, money, and the pottery. There are a lot of different objects here. A merchant is a person who sells stuff. He is like a shopkeeper who travels, like Marco Polo’s father and Uncle. He trades his items for other things. We found Mah Jong tiles and they could be in the house as a game to play or they could be to sell. The box might be a merchant’s wallet for carrying money. The merchant might sell decorations for the house because we found a small dragon statue. We also found a lion statue. We heard that if you pet a lion paw, it gives you good luck. So, he might have it in his house for good luck or maybe to sell for decoration for good luck for the people. Maybe he had lots of good luck charms because merchants need lots of good luck to have good travels and trade. The turtles might have been used for holding chopsticks. We heard that it was not polite to put chopsticks on the table, so the turtle was flat to hold the chopsticks. So maybe the merchants sold the turtles with the chopsticks we found. Another reason it could be a merchant’s house is that we found a lot of coins, but we did not find a lot of money. We don’t know that the person was rich or famous. There are teapots so maybe he sold tea or something that needed to be oiled. If it is a merchant, the merchant painted because there is ink and a paintbrush. Maybe he was an artist.

We also think this might not be a merchant’s house because it seems like a collectors house because collectors collect all sorts of artifacts.  At a merchant’s house there might be lots of the same thing or have items of one theme, but at this house there were lots of different things. Maybe he was artist because of the paintbrush and ink. He or she might have used the flute. Many times instruments inspire artists. It is quite common for an artist to have lots of inspirations and quite a few things for his art. There are a lot of things that he might have used because they look to be in pretty good condition like the round silver bell. Maybe he is a musician because we found a flute.

Level one might also have been a restaurant or a kitchen, a dining room or living room in a house because we found plates, teapots, bowls, chopsticks, vases and decorations. The bicycle could have been used for delivery if it was a restaurant. The flute and games could have been entertainment in the restaurant.

We looked at the coins. There were coins from 1968, 1973, 1975, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1992, 1958, 1967, and 1994.  We know that level one is most recent, but we don’t know how recent level one is. We know that the site is, at its oldest, 15 years old because we found a coin from 1994.

We spent a lot of time calling the merchant a man, but it could have been a woman. We found perfume bottles, some earrings, a necklace, and a purse. Maybe a man and a woman lived here. Perhaps there was even a family. The merchant, or whomever, would have used a bike to travel. We know this because we found bike pedals, bike brakes and reflectors. When we watched a video about Kashgar, there were a lot people who travel with their things on bicycles.

Your children are enjoying their excavation. We have heard from many parents that their children are LOVING the dig. We are so pleased that your children are sharing with you the process of excavating artifacts. Today, the children shared with me (Julia is with the kids at the site) many items they uncovered. At this point, we are focusing on describing the objects. In a few days, we will ask the children to make inferences about why the artifacts might have been found together. Throughout the experience, the children will test these hypotheses.

Today, the children uncovered….

- A knife or dagger that looked like it had an ivory holder (or scabbard) and handle. Both were off-white in color and were engraved.

- A teapot that was broken in to two pieces. It was an orangey, brown color, like clay without any decoration. It looked pumpkin-shaped.

- An inkpad in a holder that looked like it was made out of china. Inside there was red ink that still worked! There was a print of the stamp indented on the pad. It was of a wormy dragon in the shape of an “S.”

- A coin made of copper. It is a pence, perhaps from London?

- Goblets or cup holders — at least 4 of them. They were decorated with thumb-like indents in them all over. They looked like a golden color. There was no handle.

- Many broken pieces of plates with designs that were light with brigh colors.

- Jade chopsticks. They were green.

- A blueish, green statue. It is an animal figure – unknown. It might be a lion or it might be a dragon or maybe a lion and a dragon mixed.

- A sharp knife in a case made out of camel bone? The case is a beige color with carved dragons on it.

- A bike pedal with an orange reflector.

- Two statues of people dressed in robes. One had a little hair. The other was bald.

- Mah Jong tiles, which are red on the one side and white on the other. There is Chinese writing on the white side of each tile.

- Golden dragon pin. The dragon is curly, sort of like a snake. The pin looks like real gold. The pin was open when we found it.

- Gold cup holders with cracked pieces of blue and white plates (porcelain?) inside. You could see fingerprints in the decorations, so we think they might have been hand-made.

- A dragon with a broken tail. The dragon was green with fangs and had an open mouth. There were scales on the top. The colors are green and white. The dragon was on all four legs — “It was rather cute!”

- Two turtles. One was white and one was green (jade?). They were different, but both were small. They were carved. We think they might be chopstick rests.

- A bag of coins. The bag is red with golden swirls on it. The coins are silver. There are a lot of Turkish coins. One coin had four holes on the edges.

Today was House 43’s first day excavating the site from Kashgar, China. We have included some pictures to chronicle the big day. When the children returned to the classroom, we asked them about what they found. Here is a list of what was uncovered today:

- A big pot that looked like a coffee or tea pot with a big handle — the handle was on the top, where it could be held, not on the side

- A box that looked like an eyeglass case with flower patterns that held 5 Indian rupies (paper money) and Turkish coins

- A musical instrument — a wooden flute with designs on it that was “2-1/2 – 4 feet” long

- A teapot-like object — silver — with a lid that could fall off

- A plate with white and blue coloring — “it wasn’t cracked! You could use it now!” The design looked like the design on the blue and white Chinese teacup in the classroom

- Cracked plate in many small pieces with pink flowers and blue turquoise petals

- Silvery box-like object that you could open up in the shape of an oval with a lid. There were petals and flowers on it.

- Gold cup — possibly a vase? — circular shaped, flower design carved cylinder (wider at the middle) without a bottom or a top

- Cement blocks — lots of them

- 2 or 3 coins — one with a 5 on it, definitely foreign. One silver coin was from Turkey

- A pendant, which might have been on a necklace, with a drawing of the Great Wall of China on it

- Little pieces of plates with decorated designs with bright colors

- Brush in a cup — the wooden cup had three-dimensional designs of flowers with stems; the paint brush has a black handle with gold painted designs

- A green cylinder with carvings — possibly jade