The Romans in Worcester a Town and Its Hinterland Education Pack
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The Romans in Worcester A Town and its Hinterland Education Pack Education Pack Welcome The Romans in Worcester resource is intended to align with the national curriculum in England, with the focus on Worcester and its hinterland bringing the wider understanding of Roman Britain closer to home. The resource book provides information for teachers of Key Stage 2 learners, along with accompanying PowerPoint presentations, suggested activities and other resources. There is an accompanying loan box incorporating replica items as well as archaeological finds from the Mab’s Orchard excavation at Warndon, Worcester. The book is laid out with information for teachers shown alongside the relevant PowerPoint slides, to help you explore a variety of themes with your learners. At the start of each chapter and before each activity, we provide a listing of relevant points in the Key Stage 2 programme of study. The understanding of historical concepts, such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity and difference, is a key aim within the national curriculum for history, while the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain (including ‘Romanisation’ of Britain: sites such as Caerwent and the impact of technology, culture and beliefs, including early Christianity) is a required part of the Key Stage 2 curriculum. Therefore we have highlighted key changes and new introductions that took place in the Roman period by marking the text in bold. We hope that you will find this a useful and inspiring resource for bringing archaeology and the Romans into your classroom. There were glaciers in the Scottish Timeline of Archaeological Highlands until around 10,000 years ago Periods in England Last Ice Age Palaeolithic 500,000 BC Hunting and gathering se of flint tools Spear point People being to move from hunting 10,000 BC esolithic and gathering towards food production i.e. farming Antler harpoon Neolithic 4000 BC Farming economy onumental constructions egalithic e.g. Stonehenge architecture Devlopment of 2600 BC Bronze Age metalworking technologies Bronze leaf-shaped ncreasing use of bronze spearhead 800 BC ronworking technologies ron Age PREHSTR onumental architecture Engraved mirror e.g. hillforts, oppida Amphora Prehistory ends with the arrival of the AD 43 Roman Romans in AD 43 Early edieval AD 410 Anglo-Saxons 5th-11th centuries AD Sutton Hoo Helmet Vikings 8th-11th centuries AD Decorated bone comb The Norman nvasion (AD 1066 AD 1066 edieval marks the beginning of the Face jug edieval period Post-edieval AD 1540 The edieval period ends with the HSTR dissolution of the monasteries in AD 1540 1485-1603 Tudor 1558-1604 Elizabethan Tudor crown 1603-1714 Stuart 1603-1625 Jacobean 1714-1837 Hanoverian 1714-1830 Georgian odern AD 1901 1837-101Victorian PPT 1: Life Before Vertis Key Stage 2 Curriculum Links History: changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age Geography: human geography: types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water Slide 2: reconstruction image of Iron Age village The Iron Age (c. 800 BC to AD 43) is so called because of the adoption of iron working technologies. Iron was more complex to make than its precursor, bronze, but the finished result was more durable. Other metals such as gold and silver were also used at this time, and bronze was still widely used for the manufacture of weapons and tools. Settlement was usually more dispersed in the preceding Bronze Age. In the Iron Age, we begin to see more evidence of communal living. Ramparts and ditches were used to create enclosures on slopes, summits and promontories. Iron Age homes were round in plan. These roundhouses were made from a combination of materials including wood, stone and turf, with low walls and conical thatched roofs. Roundhouses vary in size but each one was probably home to an extended family group. Iron Age people were predominantly farmers, growing crops and rearing animals, but hunting, fishing and gathering played a small part in their economy too. Crops Wild Resources • Emmer wheat • Honey • Barley • Deer • Spelt • Nuts • Oats • Berries (e.g. raspberries, blackberries) • Celtic beans • Crabapples Animals • Fish • Sheep/goats • Cattle • Pigs • Horses Slide 3: mapping Iron Age tribes in Britain Iron Age Britain was home to tribal peoples: much of what we now know as Worcestershire was occupied by the Dobunni while the Cornovii inhabited the northern part, and the south- western portion was home to the Silures. We can trace the territories of these peoples through coin evidence: there were eight coin-issuing tribes, one of which was the Dobunni. Each tribe 1 had a distinctive material culture – their own styles of pottery or personal ornaments, for example – which helps us to understand where their territories lay. Tribes were led by a chief, and society is generally believed to have been patriarchal. However, there are examples of female leaders including Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes, and Boudica of the Iceni, the latter famous for having led an uprising against the Romans in around AD 60. Slide 4: beautiful objects, skilled craftspeople The material culture of the Iron Age includes some beautiful objects made by highly skilled craftspeople. Elaborately decorated jewellery is among the most impressive Iron Age metalwork. These rare and expensive high-status items would have belonged to the wealthiest members of society. The necklace shown is known as the Perdiswell Torc. It was discovered in Perdiswell, Worcester, in 1840 by workers who were digging for gravel. This one is made of copper alloy beads threaded onto an iron bar, but some are made of intricately twisted strands of gold. The Perdiswell Torc likely dates to the 2nd century AD, but torcs like this are characteristic of the Iron Age, and are rare but exciting finds. This style of torc is more commonly found in the north of England so it’s not clear how it came to be in Worcestershire – perhaps through trade links. 1 cow 1 sheep The comb was found by a metal detectorist in Warwickshire, who had no idea how old it was! It has intricate decoration including basketweave pattern with an ‘armadillo’ motif. It may have been for personal use but some people believe it was in fact intended for use on horses’ manes and tails. The five coins of theDobunni , discovered in the Droitwich area, date to around AD 20- AD 50. They feature a rearing horse, a motif which appears frequently on Iron Age coins. On the other side (not shown) is a tree/branch. It is clear that the Roman town of Vertis grew on a site that had previously been occupied: the Roman material overlies material relating to Iron Age occupation of the site, with Roman ramparts running along the same course (or, in fact, the same earthwork) as an earlier rampart, an Iron Age precursor. Some researchers have suggested that the number of coins found could suggest that this may have been an oppidum, an enclosed community a bit like a walled town. For much of the Slide 5: Activity | Trade & Exchange Key Stage 2 Curriculum Links Number – number and place value Number – addition and subtraction Number – multiplication and division For much of the Iron Age, trade was done using a bartering system rather than coinage. This activity enables your learners to explore ideas of trade and exchange. Photocopiable trading cards and instructions are found on the following two pages. 5 pots 1 bag of grain 2 1 cow 1 sheep Iron Age, however, the economy was based on trade. 5 pots 1 bag of grain Tribal Trade & Exchange For much of the ron Age, trade was done using a bartering system rather than coinage. Wealth was measured in terms of resources - food, animals and other goods - rather than money. 1. Split into groups to represent different ron Age tribes. Give your tribe a name. 2. Trade with your neighbouring tribes, swapping resources. Remember that everyone needs to eat – try to avoid trading away all of your food! 3. At the end of each round, compare resources. Which community has the most food and which has the least? Which community would survive longest? s one team now wealthier than the others? The wealthiest tribe wins the game! Round One ts been a good year theres been a plentiful harvest, and there are lots of cattle and sheep for meat and dairy products. Food is not scarce, so prices are fairly low. 1 cow 3 sheep OR 15 bags of grain OR 5 pots 1 sheep 3 bags of grain OR 15 pots 1 bag of grain 5 pots Round Two There has been a bad harvest and the value of grain has gone up. Grain is now worth more than it was before, because there is less available. All communities need grain to make bread, so a shortage could cause problems. No-one wants to go hungry, so those without much grain simply have to pay the new, higher price! 1 cow 3 sheep OR 10 bags of grain OR 5 pots 1 sheep 2 bags of grain OR 15 pots 1 bag of grain 10 pots Round Three: aggle our Way to Wealth! Haggling is bargaining or making a deal. Decide what you think your goods are worth and trade with your classmates. Do you need food more than pots? Would your community prefer to eat beef or lamb/mutton? How much do you need or want grain? Write the goods’ values (below) up on the board. Photocopy lots of trading cards and the instructions (previous pages), and distribute them among your learners, split into teams or tribes.