How Can a Child Experience Authentic Historical Discovery?

What is the actual work real historians do? 

How do we learn about the past?  

How do we learn about the world pre-writing?

After reading the Introduction in Story of The World by Susan Bauer, we watched historian Beverly Crier
explain the role archaeology plays in the discovery of history and discussed:

How do archaeologists choose an excavation site?

Can an archaeologist gain insight into a culture after one dig site? 

The children realized that historians depend on on another. Teams of archaeologist refer to other dig sites to determine a pattern of locations and determine the best place to dig.

The next day, we watched Dr. Loren Davis demonstrate the tools and methods archaeologists use to
excavate.  And then we headed outside, where an excavation site was waiting.

The Invitation

Imagine you are archaeologists in the future digging in our backyard to learn about our family. 

I chose not to try to imitate items from actual cultures and times in history as I wouldn't want to misrepresent a culture or time I don't belong to.

After the excavation, the children explored the items they discovered: pennies, dimes, a Scout bead,
paper clips, hair ties, a giant pencil, a doll plate, a traditional sized pencil, and some broken pottery.
They pieced together the pottery and then we discussed how historians use artifacts to draw theorized
conclusions about the people and cultures that occupied a space.

What inferences can you make about the people who lived here?

Would you have any unanswered questions?

How could you answer those questions?

Could an historian draw an inaccurate conclusion about our family based on these items?

The children noted that the sizes of materials might confuse historians.  Who needed a giant pencil
rather than a smaller one? Why such a small plate? The questions led to the understanding that
historians depend on multiple site discoveries to move from theories to more concrete and accurate
understandings.  Would multiple sites have giant pencils and very small plates?   

These foundational questions will be integral to the reliance on multiple sources for information as we
delve further into research in all content areas.