Chapter 1- Finding Out About The Past

Question 0

What is the study of layers in the ground called?

Answer 0

They study of layers is called stratigraphy.

Question 1

What is pre-history?

Answer 1

Pre-history is a time before written records we made

Question 2

What is aerial photography?

Answer 2

Photographs taken from the air to find crop marks.

Question 3

What are geophysical surveys?

Answer 3

This is a method using metal detectors to find hidden objects in the ground.

Question 4

What is field walking?

Answer 4

Field walking is walking over a site, looking for objects of any interest.

Question 5

What are the steps to preparing a dig? (3)

Answer 5

1. Seal of the area
2. Remove the topsoil
3. Draw a site grid, with each square given a number and letter with the location of any found object written exactly on the grid.

Question 6

What tools are used when doing a dig? (5)

Answer 6

Trowel: Main tool for digging
Sieve: Earth placed in sieve to separate the dirt and stones from the object.
Small Brush: Once examined, objects are cleaned with a small brush.
Photographic Scales: placed beside large objects to judge the size of it.
Polythene Bags: Object is then placed in the polythene bags which are labelled with the details of where the object was found.

Question 7

Name and describe 2 ways artefacts are dated.

Answer 7

1. Dendracronology: Archaeologists count the rings of a tree to see how many years it has been living.
2. Carbon-14 Dating: All living things have the chemical carbon-14 in them. When they die, the amount of carbon-14 decreases, allowing archaeologists to calculate how many years it has been dead.

Question 8

What is an artefact?

Answer 8

An artefact is a man-made object.