Archaeology for Kids: Uncovering the Mysteries of Our Past, 25 Activities
1 How Archaeol ogy Works oward Carter a 49 year old archaeologist had been work ing in Egypt for years He was certain that the tomb of King Tutankhamun lay in the bedrock under the hot sun of the Valley of Kings where more than 30 tombs had already been found To some people it seemed unlikely there could be any more tombs crammed into the Valley but Carter was insistent He based his beliefs on the discovery of a blue glazed cup and some jars containing linen used to wrap mummies Both of these finds carried the royal seal of Tutankhamun Carter persuaded a rich Englishman the earl of Carnarvon to fund the excavations in Egypt one last time as he had done for the past 15 years The years flew by 1918 1919 1920 1921 and no signifi cant finds were made The digging seasons were short due to the weather conditions in Egypt not to mention the flood of tourists that visited the already popular Valley of Kings It was frustrat ing to have to wait for the months to pass until the next season In 1922 Carter met with Carnarvon in England and learned that Carnarvon wanted to call off the expedition and cut off the money Without money Carter could not pay his workers or buy the necessary supplies and food How can he do this to me Carter must have thought but Carnarvon's doubts seemed rea sonable If the tomb had not been discovered yet what made Carter think it would be found this time After pleading with Lord Carnarvon Carter finally got his wish Work could carry On On November 4 1922 workers found a staircase leading to a doorway The doorway was only feet away from the entrance to the excavated tomb of another king but Carter still thought this could be it He ordered the trench filled until the patient Lord Carnarvon could make the trip from England On November 26 Carter and Carnarvon stood at the door way to the antechamber The air was thick with anticipation as Carter opened a hole into the room When his candle brought the first light the tomb had seen in centuries he was amazed at
what he saw He described seeing strange animals statues and gold everywhere the glint of gold That day was one of the most important in all of archaeolog ical history Though the tomb had been partially looted things had been stolen by thieves perhaps not long after the burial it was mostly intact Inside the tomb were unimaginable treasures gilded and inlaid chairs stools and tables game boards gem encrusted jewelry statues of gold and silver musical instru ments solid gold daggers works of art and of course the beau tiful golden coffin of Tutankhamun s spectacular as it was in many ways the story of the dis covery of King Tutankhamun's tomb is typical of everyday archaeology Most sites are not found instantly Though people often focus on the moment of discovery they often forget how long it takes to find the site in the first place Archaeology is expensive as Howard Carter knew By 1922 Lord Carnarvon had spent what amounted to millions of dollars in modern money on Carter's digs In real life big announcements about spectacular archaeological finds often come after the excavations have been going on for years Because they take so much time and money you would think that excavations are not often done however modern laws often require areas be checked for possible archaeo logical sites before anything is built on the land Even then research should still take place before any real digging is done There are eight basic steps to archaeology Understanding what they are will help you discover how archaeology works 1 What do you want to find The first question an archaeologist should ask is What do I want to find Though many times strange and wonderful things are found that were not at all expected it is better to first have a specific plan Howard Carter wanted to find the tomb of King Tutankhamun Along the way he found other artifacts but he had a specific goal The famous German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann set out to find the mythical city of Troy as you will
