Dig This! How Archaeologists Uncover Our Past

Word Knowledge

Use this activity to check students' knowledge of vocabulary from the text. First, copy the words from the box below onto the chalkboard. Next, read the first clue aloud. Direct the students to write an answer on a sheet of paper. Then reread the clue and call on a student to go to the board and circle the correct answer. Continue in this same manner until all clues have been read. Answers have been provided in parentheses as an easy reference.

 

relief

papyrus

excavation

obsidian

baroque

afterlife

ziggurat

forums

fresco

Linear A

Renaissance

hangtu

dendrochronology

cuneiform

trowel

thermo-luminescence

strata

occupation level

sequence dating

bucchero

 

1.A method of dating trees by counting growth rings (dendrochronology)

2. A wall painting made on wet plaster (fresco)

3. On an archaeological site these layers of earth may contain artifacts (strata)

4.This wedge-shaped writing was used by the ancient Sumerians (cuneiform)

 

5. A stratum containing material evidence of the humans who once lived there (occupation level)

 

6. The process of uncovering ancient remains (excavation)

 

7. A design chiseled into the surface of a wall (relief)

 

8. Existence after death (afterlife)

 

9. This 17th century art style features curved shapes and elaborate designs (baroque)

 

10. Sumerians built these temples crowned with a stepped tower (ziggurat)

 

11. By measuring the amount of light in clay, an artifact's age can be determined (thermo­luminescence)

12. Egyptians wrote on this paper made from a plant (papyrus)

13. Arranging objects in an order that shows how they changed over time (sequence dating)

14. This fine black pottery was unique to the Etruscans (bucchero)

15. A system of writing used by the settlers of Crete (Linear A)

16. Romans held meetings in these large, open market places (forums)

17. Excavators use this small, flat-bladed garden tool to scrape dirt (trowel)

18. A period of intellectual awakening in Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries (Renaissance)

19. This style of building is typical of early Chinese cities (hangtu)

20. A hard natural glass formed from rapidly cooling lava (obsidian)