Clues Challenge

One of the biggest problems for visitors to the ruins of our past is making sense of what is left. Clues Challenge is an entertaining introduction to archaeological detective work. In this fast-moving documentary Alice and Daniel face the challenge of becoming archaeological detectives. They have to investigate three different modern houses, answer set questions, carry out an investigation and collect clues. The first house is fully furnished but empty of people. They are asked to work out who lives there. They search the house for clues, take photographs and make notes. (Question: do the toys indicate a boy or a girl?) The second house is a bungalow with no furniture in it. Here it is less obvious which are the bedrooms. They have to search harder for clues and be more observant. Again they have to work out what the rooms might have been used for. (Question: what do the marks on the flooring show?) Finally they are taken to a new building site, where the site foreman shows them round. Their challenge is to work out what the building is going to be from seeing the foundations alone. By asking children to look for 'evidence' in surroundings which are familiar to them, Clues Challenge helps to prepare them for recording and reaching conclusions about the buildings and objects of the past.

Part of the series Archaeological Detectives