Instead of finding pieces of pottery or bone, they searched for sweets hidden on the school site that replicated the concentrations and different types of finds you might get on the surface above a usual British site.

The students conducted a field-walking survey of the site and had to pick up all the sweets from squares on the ground they had been allocated before recording the quantity and different types.

Back in the classroom students were told what the different sweets represented. The group was able to use their results to practice some Geographical Information Systems (GIS) skills to map the concentrations of their finds and were able to identify areas where people might have been living and working. They also had some wonderful ideas about ritual practices in the past.

The students’ behaviour was excellent and Mrs Davenport and Miss Collins were very impressed with their insightful group discussions.