Stratigraphy! Unearthing the layers of history!

OF HISTORY!

UNEARTHING THE LAYERS

STRATIGRAPHY!

Archaeology is the study of people who lived in the past, through the objects and remains they left behind. An archaeologist is a person who finds and studies these objects to understand what the lives of people living in the past were like. Remains like old buildings or castles are easily found, but often history is hidden underground, and to find this an archaeologist must dig!

When an archaeologist digs, they're trying to understand how old buried objects are and how they might have been used. This is called ‘excavating’. If an area had people living in it for a long time, the objects they leave behind become buried, building on top of each other over time. These objects can be big, like ruined houses, or small like broken pots, toys or beads. Objects from different time periods are often found separated within layers of soil, with the oldest layers found deepest in the ground and the newest near the surface. The study of these layers is called ‘stratigraphy’.

The site of the ancient city of Jericho is on a small hill, called a tell. Tells are the remains of old villages or cities which have built up over a long time. As houses and other buildings got old and were replaced, new ones were built on top of them. Over time, a tell was formed!

Fill in the missing words!

Fill in the missing words!

Click on an object to find out more!

hint!

for a

Tap

Drag THE OBJECTS WITH YOUR CURSOR OR FINGER TO ARRANGE theM in order from oldest to newest.

A very special thanks to Exhibition Events Team and the staff of Oriental Museum, Durham, whose efforts made this game possible. 2021.

You’re now a budding archaeologist, congratualtions! If you’d like to learn more about these objects, how to bake a stratigraphy cake or even find out which pot you are, click here to go to our activities page!