Archaeology 101

We had a fun Sunday this week! The girls and I read a few books about history and archaeology (based on the Story of the World curriculum), and this is one of the projects that followed. I had spent a sweaty half hour the day before, digging a 3 feet by 2 feet hole in our backyard, which is full of roots, and, as Eliza noticed, bereft of worms.  I filled the hole with random items from our home that might give clues to future archaeologists as to how we live - a fork, a key, a plastic toy shoe, a toy car, a few pennies...We set up the site by marking it off in a small grid and the girls went at it with shovels, paint brushes, and a sifter for the smaller items.  They spent about an hour digging through the dirt, totally engaged, and recruiting our neighbors Sid and Cirus for a bit.  I was a bit relieved, as I imagined that the project could have gone the way of others - Mama is excited but the kiddos are not.  Ani mostly sifted and dug and got really really dirty, but don't they learn best when they're happy?! The most exciting part was that they found things I didn't bury:  a spoon, shards of terra cotta and ceramic pottery, and coolest of all, a BONE. 

When we were done recording all the loot, we washed up and made a picnic and headed for Stroud's Run and the dry creek.  We hoped for some cool artifacts there, or maybe some fossils, but "all" we found were some teeny tiny salamanders, which I think were redback salamanders, but I don't know for sure.  They were super tiny, fast, and cute!!  I believe I said "Omigosh I think I'm in love" which was met with a scrutinizing look from Eliza. She takes "in love" verrrry seriously. And it is not usually reserved for salamanders.