What can we learn from Ancient Greek artefacts?

Today, we have been acting as archaeologists, looking at a range of secondary sources from the Ancient Greek period.

Firstly, we discussed that these artefacts were replicas (secondary sources) because originals (primary sources) would be extremely expensive and there would only be a limited amount that the whole world had to share!  Then, by using our deduction skills, we used our senses to feel, look and even smell the artefacts to see if we could figure out what the Ancient Greeks would have used them for.

We noticed that some items had not changed at all - spinning tops and coins are still used in the same way today.  However, the wax seal and wax tablet and stylus have changed over time.  We considered some of the items that we use today that are similar - for example, nowadays we have books, whiteboards and pens and we use envelopes with sticky backs to keep our letters private!

Finally, after making these comparisons, we considered what these objects taught us about life in Ancient Greece.  Similarly, some things were the same: they liked going to the theatre, playing games and going to school; however, some things had changed: we do not use armour any more (luckily!) and we do not need swords and axe heads for fighting like the Spartan soldiers!

Take a look at some of our archaeological dig in action!