Department Spotlight – Year 11 Humanities

Year 11 students enjoyed an excursion to the Abbey Museum in Caboolture where they entered an ancient Archaeological site.

The first thing they found was the Egyptian Coffin! Pretty soon, it was clear that this was not just the site of an Egyptian tomb, but a crime scene as well! Why is there a skeleton with a Victorian era lamp in an Ancient Egyptian tomb site?

Students begin learning about Ancient History in Year 11 by studying Archaeology, and the Abbey Museum offers a chance to get their hands dirty – literally!

The Abbey Museum is a wonderful resource, right on our doorstep, that allows students to explore aspects of Ancient History, with artefacts from pre-historic Europe through to Shogunate Japan. In addition, the Museum has an amazing educational program that our students get to experience in Year 8 with our Medieval Europe Incursion and again in Year 11 with the Archaeological Dig.

After a tour of the Museum, the students are challenged to solve the mystery of the dig site. They are taught the methods that Archaeologists use on a dig, how to uncover artefacts, and how to record their finds. They find amulets, mummified cats, canopic jars and, of course, our mysterious skeleton. It’s delicate work, and as they work, the students collaborate to piece together the clues, interpreting their evidence and predicting what might have happened at the site.

The Year 11 students make excellent archaeologists and they successfully solved the mystery of the Egyptian Tomb Robber, who, after digging through the walls of the tomb, was crushed by falling masonry.