Mystery Shipwreck Activity 1 - Introduction Answers
The three objects are from a shipwreck in 1837.
The hints from these objects include:
- The bottle and the ceramic fragment look like something we might still use today.
- The pattern on the ceramic fragment is highly detailed and does not look like it has been painted by hand. This suggests that it was created in the modern era, and further research shows that the blue willow pattern used to decorate was invented in the late 1700s.
- The spike is larger than a normal nail and doesn't look like the examples we would buy or use today. It doesn't look as perfectly straight or finished as a modern nail, suggesting it may be handmade (which is not something that happens commonly today).
These objects, however ordinary, tell a story about the people who made, used and owned them. Real historians and archaeologists are often confronted with situations just like this, taking objects from the past with no identifying details and figuring out the historical story they are linked to.
Answer these questions
“Archaeology is an important key to learning more about the past. Sites and artefacts provide a portal through which we may discover things about past humans that weren’t recorded... Archaeology often reveals physical evidence of a story that can be more interesting or surprising than what is written down.”
Dr James Hunter
In the following activity, you will become the archaeologist. We will provide you with a collection of historical objects and archaeological artefacts and your job is to reconstruct their historical narrative.
Begin your task on the next page.