The sun shone, the sheep were bleating happily, and the site looked at its best!

The children all looked pretty smart too, and they made us very proud with their exemplary behaviour. Our first activity was to learn all about the Stone Age while sitting inside one of Butser’s impressive Stone Age replica roundhouses. As we sat around the rather smoky fire, the children impressed Wendy by remembering the three phases of the Stone Age: the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. Wendy reminded us of the features of each period – and, of course, we were able to get woolly mammoths into our discussion!

Official digging was scheduled for after the break when the children imagined what it was like to be archaeologists. They uncovered a variety of objects from various historical periods and this was followed by a discussion about their likely origin and function. After a picnic lunch in the sunshine, the children enjoyed a chalk-carving lesson, then Wendy taught us how our ancestors would have made rope by twisting plant fibres together. This was a little fiddly, so it took some concentration and help from a partner, but their cordage looked splendid and even made some rather fancy-looking bracelets!