Pupils in the Year 8 Archaeology class (Character Curriculum) have been learning about the relevance of environmental archaeology and scientific analysis. In yesterday’s lesson the class gained some hands-on experience analysing the contents of coprolites (fossilised faeces) which can provide evidence of ancient diet, health, trade links, wealth and agricultural/processing practices.
Miss Scullion and Mrs Giecco had prepared some realistic looking salt dough coprolites containing a range of seeds, grains, pips, bones, grit and parasites to reflect different archaeological periods. Pupils were asked to identify and analyse the contents and successfully managed to date the coprolites to the Roman, Viking or Tudor periods.
The coprolites, gloves, tweezers and magnifying lenses are ready for Monday’s Year 9 lesson!
If you want to discover more about what coprolites can teach us, please visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyds_Bank_coprolite for information about the UK’s most famous example.
