Britain has one of the most fascinating prehistoric pasts of any country in the world. For a tiny island the evidence of our ancient ancestors is all around us.
Worked flint, hill forts, stone monuments and traces of long abandoned villages have all been found and can give plenty of clues to show what life would have been like.
During this Topic Day, students will be able to handle real prehistoric artefacts from local excavations and investigate what life was like before written records began.
BPSP1
During this session, classes will be introduced to the concepts of archaeological questioning, before being set their own question to research.
Drawing on a range of archaeological sources, including artefacts, scientific analysis and excavation records, children will be shown how to gather information, from these unlikely sources, and use it to interpret what the past was like.
Through their investigations classes will be able to uncover evidence for the types of foods eaten during the Bronze Age, the crafts created, the jobs that needed to be done and the houses that were built.
Using the results of their investigations classes will then be shown how to present their findings in archaeological illustrations.
BPEX1
Pottery was one of the main containers of prehistory and used for both practical and artistic purposes.
In this session, have a look at real pottery from thousands of years ago. Discover how it was made, decorated and used, as well as how styles changed over the vast period of time that is prehistory.
Find out how archaeologists can tell what these pots would have looked like when they were newly made and how tiny fragments can help us to understand how old a prehistoric site is.
There is an extra charge of £1 per child for this activity. The children will be able to keep any pottery that they make in the session.
BPEX2
During the Iron Age, a selection of ornate mirrors were created. Many of these mirrors were decorated with swirling, curvy linear designs. A style known as La Tène.
These mirrors are today one of the biggest enigmas of Prehistory. The La Tène designs are thought to hide mysterious images of plants, animals and faces. But everyone sees something different.
During this session, discover more about the La Tène mystery and decide for yourself the answers to these key archaeological questions. Why were these mirrors made? Who where they made for?
There is no extra cost for this session
BPEX3
With its extensive chalk deposits, Sussex was one of the hubs of prehistoric flint production. Explore the range of artefacts that were mined and produced in this area.
In this session, have a look at real prehistoric tools from the Stone Age and find out more about them. Discover where the raw material was mined, how this was done in a time with limited technological aid. Investigate how the tools were made and have a go at identifying the job each tool would have been made to do.
There is no extra charge for this session.
BPEX4
Experimental archaeology is one of the greatest ways to test out how ancient crafts worked. In this session, children will discover how the roundhouses of later prehistory were made and the materials that would have been available for use.
They will then be set the challenge of building their own round house. They will have a go at the staple skills of prehistoric life, such as weaving wattle walls, and problem solve how to build their roundhouse in the sturdiest way possible.
There is an extra cost of £4 per child for this session.
BPEX5
During prehistory, hunting and tracking would have been the school room for boys and girls.
Every one needed to know how to track, hunt and trap animals for the settlement community to eat. But they also needed to be able to identify which plants were safe to eat and which were poisonous. Many plants were also harvested for medicinal uses.
In this session, students will play a ranges of hunting and tracking games as well as test their identification knowledge of plants for the cooking pot and for medical problems.
There is no extra cost for this session.