Bioarchaeology at Schools
Apart from research, the LAB is also keen to disseminate the enthusiasm for and knowledge about the scientific method, in general, and bioarchaeology, in particular, as a means for transdisciplinary learning. Hands-on excavations are not only used in schools, but also for adults visiting museums and fairs. Our aim is to show people how diverse the modus vivendi of humankind was during our 200 thousand years long trajectory.
Excavation of miniature burial replicas.
During the past decade, we developed and produced miniature burial replicas based on the international archaeological literature. These burials cover the history of mankind from the Neolithic in Africa and Europe to the recent dictatorships of South America. Our educational activity makes the student discover the histories of our ancestors using the scientific method and the archaeologists’ toolkit.
This activity can be adapted to different age groups and according to cultural background. As such, it was already a hit at preschool, and a means to show how to excavate human remains at university. This interview (in Portuguese) shows Sabine Eggers and Célia Boyadjian demonstrating how this activity works.
1 Kids excavating. 2 Replica of a shell mound burial from southern Brazil. 3 Artificial skeleton buried in flexed position to train archaeologist in bioarchaeology.
The aim of this activity is to discover who was the person buried, how, when and where he or she lived and what his or her role in society was.
At school, this activity can promote a rich transdisciplinary work, since it invites students to think as a researcher and use all they know from different areas. It stimulates students to build and test hypotheses.
At the moment, we have provided three different burial contexts (10 copies of each) to Educational Support Agencies of two towns nearby São Paulo (Diretorias de Ensino de Osasco e Itapecerica da Serra), which can be borrowed for free after a teachers training programme. The accompanying written material (in Portuguese) can be downloaded at: Escavando identidades: muito além do RG (Excavating personalities: discover much more than their ID).
Book (at the moment only in Portuguese), but indicated for the Jabuti Prize(for 9-90 years old people): “Discovering Archaeology: What can the Dead tell us about Life?”
Amongst the stories of an archaeologist grandfather and his grandchildren, this book is a voyage of mankind through time and space. Luísa and Felipe experienced the loss of their tortoise and search for answers and comfort. Grandpa Roberto invites them to discover through archaeological stories, how people lived and mourned their dead at different times and in different places. They discover very old mysteries in Brazil and many other regions of the world. There are tragic love stories, stories on slaves, warriors, princesses and pirates. There are also stories that happened in the desert, in the forest and on icy mountain peaks. We also show history on hunter-gatherers, on fishermen and huge empires. How much can we travel with archaeology? See more on our facebook page. Purchase the book (at the moment only in Portuguese) at Editora Cortez.