Time Travelling by Water will be in Norfolk for the next two weeks to support Wessex Archaeology’s Area 240 project. Our Area 240 team are exploring an area of seabed 13km east of Great Yarmouth, where flint tools and animal remains from thousands of years ago were found last year. Time Travelling by Water will be talking to schools, community groups and appearing at event days such as the Royal Norfolk Show. Hope to see you there!
For more information on this or any Time Travelling by Water project please contact education officer Gemma Ingason.
The Time Travelling by Water timeline is now available to download. It covers all the main archaeological periods and compliments the National Curriculum by including Tudor, Victorian and WW2 images. To download your free copy of the Time Travelling by Water timeline, visit our Resources Page.
Time Travelling by Water recently delivered a workshop on the topic of science as part of a local school’s science week. Children in Year Four learnt about various archaeological techniques including geophysical survey, diving and geoarchaeology. As part of their exploration of geophysics Year Four made 3D models of submerged archaeology by interpreting geophysical images.
The second Time Travelling by Water podcast is now online. In this, the 12th in the popular archaeocast series, divers Graham Scott and Niall Callan describe the work that they are doing exploring the wreck of the Iona on behalf of Historic Scotland.
Time Travelling by Water joined Sutton College of Learning for Adults (SCOLA) last Saturday to host some fun free family activities in Sutton Library.
Intrepid volunteers snorkelled to discover real archaeological finds and handled some dry finds on our touch table. These included a 1940’s telescope, a machine gun and mammoth tusk and teeth, all of which have been dredged up from around our coasts. The events were very much enjoyed and there was a great response form the public.
Though Sutton, in Surrey, is not within one of Time Travelling by Water’s target counties, this event demonstrates the out of area interest in this valuable project. This is especially important in an area which has seen much development over the past few years, much of which will have used marine aggregate.
During a recent visit to Chilmark and Fonthill Bishop primary school in Wiltshire Time Travelling by Water became the accidental subject of an Ofsted inspection. The school, which was rated as ‘Outstanding’, was praised for its focus on enrichment. ‘For example,’ states the Ofsted report, ‘in one history lesson both pupils and adults were enthralled by the task of discovering the use of various artefacts brought in by Wessex Archaeology.’ High praise indeed!
Time Travelling by Water workshops are still available for 2009. If you would like your school to benefit from a hands on approach to history, please contact education officer Gemma Ingason to make a booking.
Last Saturday Time Travelling by Water visited the South Wiltshire branch of the Young Archaeologists’ Club to help them to learn about marine archaeology.
After an introduction to the topic, our intrepid archaeologists set about exploring some underwater artefacts hidden in buckets. They couldn’t see the finds and used a reference collection to work out what they were. This is what our divers sometimes have to do when diving to great depths or in murky water. For realism and to give the YAC’s a feel for what it is really like to be submerged in British waters, the water was not heated!
We finished the session by using everything we had learnt about marine archaeology to create some marine themed snow globes to remind us of the day.
The first Time Travelling by Water podcast is now online. It is the eleventh in the popular Archaeocast series and the first to feature an interview with one of our divers direct from the seabed.
Listen to the podcast to hear divers Graham Scott, Matt Astill and Niall Callan explain the work that Wessex Archaeology do in support of the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973) and to hear Matt describe the Norman’s Bay wreck from below the waves.
Time Travelling by Water joined forces with the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology at the weekend to explore underwater archaeology with Southampton Young Archaeologists’ Club.
Alison Hamer from HWTMA taught the Young Archaeologists about maritime archaeology and showed them some real artefacts that have come from below the waves. One brave volunteer dressed up in a dry suit complete with air cylinder and flippers to experience what it is really like to be an underwater archaeologist.
Every October Southampton YAC takes part in the Big Draw, run by The Campaign for Drawing. Following Alison’s introduction we used all of the things we had just learnt to make some marine themed snow globes with TTBW Project Officer Gemma Ingason, as our entry into this year’s Big Draw competition. The Young Archaeologist’s created shipwrecks, sunken cities and submarines and surrounded them with divers, fish and even a few mermaids. A little water, food dye and glitter completed the project leaving us with beautiful lasting reminders of all that we had learnt.
It was announced on Tuesday that the new secondary curriculum for history will include the teaching of the slave trade, its causes and effects. This includes, and is intrinsically linked to, the development of British colonialism and its long term effects on people of other countries.
Time Travelling by Water is offering a free workshop to schools in the south west of England which complements this new secondary curriculum.
The SS Mendi: a forgotten story explores the archaeological wreck of the Mendi to learn about the men who perished when she sank in 1917. These men, black members of the South African Native Labour Corps, were travelling to France to assist in the war effort on behalf of the British Government.
Through an exploration of the wreck, which today lies off of the Isle of Wight, we discover how the Mendi relates to WW1, British colonialism, ethnicity and racism. We then examine the legacy of the Mendi - in South Africa she is a famous symbol of a racially divided past and an icon of unity and reconciliation. In Britain she is almost unknown.
Follow the links to learn more about the SS Mendi: a forgotten story and about other workshops offered by Time Travelling by Water. To book a workshop, contact us via the tab above.
Time Travelling by Water will be in Norfolk for the next two weeks to support Wessex Archaeology’s Area 240 project. Our Area 240 team are exploring an area of seabed 13km east of Great Yarmouth, where flint tools and animal remains from thousands of years ago were found last year. Time Travelling by Water will be talking to schools, community groups and appearing at event days such as the Royal Norfolk Show. Hope to see you there!
