Journal: Bible and Spade (Second Run)
Volume: BSPADE 16:4 (Fall 2003)
Article: Going on a Dig: A Fourth Grade Dig Report
Author: Bonnie Fuller

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BSpade 16:4 (Fall 2003) p. 122

Going on a Dig:
A Fourth Grade Dig Report

Bonnie Fuller

Fourth graders were a successful team on their first dig.

BSpade 16:4 (Fall 2003) p. 123

Just beginning the dig Kris, Keith, Ashley, and Valerie are all smiles.

The fourth graders at West Fallowfield Christian School in Atglen PA, decided to take Bible and Spade’s challenge to do their own backyard archaeological dig (Spring 2001:63–64). They brought in items from home for me to “seed” in my husband’s garden. Next, they divided into four teams and chose the special jobs they would have the day of the dig. Mark said, “It was fun to be the supervisor of our group.”

The day of the dig was bright and sunny. It was the warmest day of April, which made it very similar to an Israel dig! Johanna Commented, “It was very hot that day, and we had to wear pants!”

First, the diggers measured their squares (6 feet by 6 feet) and put in their stakes. Next, they used their compasses to find magnetic north. Many especially liked working with the compasses and tape measures!

Then the fun began! They dug, dug, and dug some more. The carefully sifted all the dirt that they had dug up so they would not miss any finds. They found coins, jewelry, pottery, fossils, corncobs, and a brick. They found a complete pot and many pottery pieces. They were surprised when they found thing I had not put there!

Artists began to draw immediately, and draftsmen worked frantically to keep up with all the artifact locations to be plotted on their graphs. When I said it was time to break for lunch, everyone was amazed at how quickly the time went. Students washed up, found a shady place, and ate their lunches while discussing their finds and future dig tactics.

After lunch, the fourth graders went back to their squares and the final hours of digging. They carefully removed their artifacts from buckets to each team’s labeled bag. Their final task was to clean up all their materials and tools.

Kate and Ashley carefully sit to check for small finds.

BSpade 16:4 (Fall 2003) p. 124

Photography is essential to document the found artifacts.

At the end of the dig day, all the fourth graders has a popsicle treat. I had told them that I always loo...

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