Serra Museum Education Program
Water ~ Barter ~ Shelter ~ Food ~ Dig Box ~ City Life ~ Mission & Rancho Life

Archaeological Dig Box

In the places where people have lived, whether the people were Kumeyaay or shopkeepers, things get left behind that might help us understand something about the people. Kumeyaay people left behind the hard shells of acorns close to holes in rocks where the acorn nuts were pounded into flour for food. Spanish soldiers dropped bullets, broken tools, or buttons from their uniforms, which got trampeled into the earth and forgotten. Today, around your house you might be dropping pencils or parts of toys that might be found 100 years from now!

Scientists who study the things that people leave behind are called archaeologists. It is from the work of archaeologists in finding the evidence from people who lived in the past that we know so much about how things were done then.

Sometimes objects from the past are very breakable. Other times, it was because an object had already been broken or gotten dirty that it was tossed aside. There are some things that stay in good condition while they are buried in the dirt, but which get damaged just by being exposed to air and sunshine. Archaeologists work very carefully, and with special tools, to keep things from the past in good condition until they can be studied and maybe put into museum collections.

Things to see and do:

1. Look at the box filled with sand. This is our make-believe archaeological dig box. Buried in the sand are some objects to find. Before you begin, look carefully at the top of the "dig". Are there any objects, or artifacts which you can already see part of? How would you plan your digging to protect these objects?
2. Use the tools from the drawer to carefully remove sand from the box. Sift the sand into the bucket so that you don't lose any small objects!
3. Did you find any objects that are breakable or fragile? How could you protect these things as you were digging them out?
4. Using the key card, match your artifacts with the right shape. Did you find all the pieces, even the little ones?
5. What can you tell about the way these people lived, based on the artifacts you found? Can you make any guesses about what they ate, drank, or wore from looking at your artifacts?
6. Think about how these things might have ended up "lost" or laying in a pile of sand. Can you think of things that you have lost that might be found by an archaeologist some day?
7. Look at the tools of the archaeologist. Do you see how they are chosen so that the artifacts are treated gently as they are dug out of the ground? Why do you think some of the tools are so small?