Introduction To Archaeological Finds: From Dig To Museum

In this lesson, you’ll learn the real reasons why finds are so important to archaeology, and how to recognise some of the most common finds in the UK.

• Why do finds really matter?
• What are the most common finds in the UK?
• Is it treasure?
• Being responsible
• The life of a find

You’re on a dig, and you’ve found something. What should you do? In this lesson, you’ll learn what to do with artefacts in the field, from recognising different categories of finds, when to excavate them, and how to get them safely out of the ground and back to the Finds Room.

• How do archaeologists classify finds?
• Recognising different types of find
• Excavating finds
• Recording finds
• Handling, storing, and transporting finds

So what exactly have you found? In this lesson, you’ll take a closer look at your finds, learning how to clean them to reveal hidden details, to figuring out the basics of how old they might be and what they can tell us.

• Cleaning finds
• Examining finds
• Identifying finds
• Photographing finds
• Illustrating finds

As Indiana Jones once said ‘it belongs in a museum!’. Or does it? In this lesson, you’ll learn how specialists study and care for artefacts, which objects end up in museums, what happens to all the ones that don’t, and how you can begin to understand artefacts on a deeper level for yourself.

• A-Z of Finds Specialisms
• What can specialists tell us?
• Should it go to a museum?
• The afterlife of a find