Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about the Vikings.

So you'll be able to recall anything you already know about the Vikings, and we are going to explore the question, how do we know so much about Viking York? So, shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe the discovery made by archaeologists at Coppergate in 1972 and explain what their findings reveal about Viking life.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are excavate, peaty, preserved, organic.

I'm going to say those again, and I would like you to repeat them after me.

Excavate, peaty, preserved, organic.

Good job.

Let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Here are the definitions of our keywords.

To excavate is to remove earth carefully from an area to find buried remains.

When plants decay, they sometimes make the soil peaty, which can preserve things for a long time.

When something is preserved, it is protected from damage or loss.

Something that is organic is to do with or has come from living things.

Pause the video here to make a note of the keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we will be working through together in today's lesson.

How do archaeologists find out about Viking life? What was the Coppergate excavation? In the first learning cycle, we will explore how archaeologists found out about Viking life.

An archaeologist is a person who studies human history and prehistory.

Archaeologists excavate sites and examine artefacts and other physical remains they find.

So you can see there in the photograph an archaeologist uncovering bones.

Until the 1970s, the only archaeological finds from the Viking period were items dug up by chance.

So how do archaeologists find out about Viking life? Well, excavation is an important way for archaeologists to gain information, but there are other ways they can find out about the past.

Field walking is a careful search of the land to find artefacts brought to the surface through farming.

So you can see an image there of archaeologists field walking.

Surveying also helps archaeologists find archaeological sites underground.

So you can see they use specialist equipment to see if they can find archaeological sites underground.

And also by using aerial photography, archaeologists can find sites that are only visible from the air.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Excavation is the only way archaeologists find out about the past.

Is that true or false? Hmm, what do you think? Well, if you said that's false, you're absolutely right.

Let's have a look.

How could you justify your answer? We've got two statements here.

There are other ways to find out about the past, such as field walking.

There are no other ways to find out about the past.

Hmm, which of these two sentences helps to justify your answer? Take a moment, pause the video, and when you're ready to restart, press play.

What did you think? If you said there are other ways to find out about the past, such as field walking, then you're correct, well done.

Can you match the image to the description of the archaeological method? So we have A, aerial photography, B, field walking, and C, surveying.

Which one is which? Finding artefacts brought to the surface through farming.

Finding underground archaeological sites.

Finding archaeological sites that are only visible from the air.

Hmm.

Take a moment, have a discussion with your partner.

Pause the video here, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

What did you think? Did you match those up? Well, let's take a look.

Aerial photography is finding archaeological sites that are only visible from the air.

Field walking is finding artefacts brought to the surface through farming.

And surveying is finding underground archaeological sites.

Well done if you got those matching images and descriptions correct.

This brings us to our first learning task.

Can you explain to your learning partner how archaeologists have found out about Viking life? Include in your answer the different methods archaeologists use to discover artefacts, excavating, field walking, surveying, aerial photography.

So take some time now to explain to your learning partner how archaeologists have found out about Viking life.

Pause the video here, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example answer? So, your answer could have included: Archaeologists have found out about Viking life through many different methods.

For example, through excavating sites to examine artefacts, and by field walking to carefully search for artefacts brought to the surface through farming.

Archaeologists can also find out about Viking life by surveying, which helps them find archaeological sites underground, and by using aerial photography, which helps them find archaeological sites that are only visible from the air.

Well done if you were able to explain to your learning partner how archaeologists have found out about Viking life and all the different ways in which they can do that.

Well done for completing this learning task.

We're now ready to move on to the second part of the lesson.

We're going to explore the Coppergate excavation.

Imagine you are a builder and you are hoping to build a new shopping centre in the area of Coppergate in York in 1972.

The buildings have been demolished and the area is clear, but an unexpected discovery stops you in your tracks.

What do you think those builders found? Well, the archaeologists were called in to excavate the area as they were beginning to dig up huge amounts of Viking objects in the ground below the streets of York.

You can see there the photo of the Coppergate excavation site.

As the archaeologists surveyed the site, they could not believe their eyes! Small areas were excavated, and this uncovered a whole host of treasures from the Viking Age! This became known as the Coppergate excavation.

So you can see there in the image lots of different archaeologists excavating the area of Coppergate.

How fantastic to find all of those Viking items. Take a moment.

Describe what happened in Coppergate in 1972 to your partner.

You may want to use the words below, excavate, builders, Viking objects, archaeologists.

Pause the video here and take enough time to describe what happened in Coppergate in 1972 to your partner.

And when you're ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? So, your answer could have included: In 1972, builders creating a new shopping centre in York were stopped in their tracks.

Archaeologists were called in to excavate the area as Viking objects were being dug up.

This became known as the Coppergate excavation.

Well done if you described something similar.

The excavation by York Archaeological Trust was only small, but three exciting discoveries were made.

They found that there were nine metres of archaeological layers dating mostly to the Viking Age.

Nine metres, that is a lot of layers.

The soil was both moist and peaty.

Now, this type of soil was a very exciting discovery as it is very good at preserving the organic remains of things which would normally rot away.

So the moist, peaty layers had preserved things like seeds, insect remains, plants, animal bones, and pollen.

The organic remains in the peaty soil provided evidence of what life was like in Viking York.

It tells archaeologists and historians about the climate, about diet, health, the countryside, and other features of the environment in the Viking Age.

So you can see here in the photograph the archaeologists uncovering organic remains at Coppergate.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

The soil was moist and peaty, which preserved the remains.

Is that true or false? Hmm, what do you think? If you said that's true, you're absolutely right.

But how do you justify your answer? Let's take a look at these two statements.

Peaty soil can preserve things for a long time.

The remains were there for a long time.

Hmm, which of these two statements helps to justify your answer? Have a discussion with your partner.

Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said the peaty soil can preserve things for a long time, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Now, the initial area provided so many finds, but it was quite small, so the excavation area was extended to cover 1,000 square metres.

Archaeologists were able to work their way through 2,000 years of history between 1976 and 1981.

So that is a lot of history, lots of years of history, between just 1976 and 1981.

Over five years, the York Archaeological Trust identified and recorded around 40,000 finds in total.

Now, that is a lot of evidence which can tell historians about Viking life.

I wonder what it was like finding so many different things.

Let's take a moment to pause here.

Sam and Andeep were talking about the Coppergate excavation.

Who do you agree with, and why? Sam says, "The Coppergate excavation was extended because the small area uncovered so many organic remains." Andeep says, "The beginning of the Coppergate excavation uncovered 40,000 finds." Hmm, who do you agree with, and why? Have a discussion with your partner.

Pause the video here, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

How did your discussion go? What did you think? Well, in this case, Sam is correct.

The Coppergate excavation was extended to 1,000 square feet because the small area uncovered so many organic remains.

It was over five years the archaeologists uncovered 40,000 finds.

So well done if you got that right.

From the fascinating Coppergate excavation, many items were uncovered which showed archaeologists what life was like in Viking York.

What do you think they found that told them about Viking life? Well, the archaeologists excavated many items like this.

Do you know what this might have been used for? This is a photo of woven wattles.

You may have heard of this before.

Now, woven wattles are a type of building material that the Vikings would have used to make walls, pathways, and screens, and they were found in the layers of peaty soil.

Timber was also found, providing evidence of another building material used by the Vikings.

Other items..

Other items archaeologists excavated are these below.

Seeds and leather.

What do you think these items tell us about Viking life? Hmm, I wonder.

Well, the seeds showed archaeologists what kinds of fruits and vegetables the Vikings grew and ate in York.

Five tonnes of animal bones were also found, indicating what livestock the Vikings kept and ate.

And leather items were evidence of the kinds of clothes and accessories the Vikings wore and made in York.

They were skilled in crafting shoes, boots, and belts.

These are some more items that the archaeologists excavated.

What do you think these items tell us about Viking life? We've got a photo of oyster shells and a photo of pottery.

Hmm, what do you think they told us about Viking life? Well, hundreds of oyster shells were also found at Coppergate.

Oysters were a cheap and common food in York at the time.

And the pottery, different pieces of pottery showed where pots were made in Viking York and what they were used for.

So lots of different items telling us lots of different things about the Vikings in York.

Let's take a moment to pause.

Discuss these questions with your partner.

What did the archaeologists find that told them what the Vikings ate? How do the archaeologists know what the Vikings wore? So pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? Well, you may have discussed these things with your partner.

They found seeds and oyster shells in the peaty soil, and that's what archaeologists found out about what the Vikings ate.

And the archaeologists, to find out what the Vikings wore, they uncovered leather, which was evidence of what clothes and accessories the Vikings wore.

Well done if you got those correct.

This now brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to create a poster describing what was discovered at the Coppergate excavation.

You might want to include the following, the date of the excavation, how many remains were discovered, examples of the organic remains found, why so many artefacts were found, and what the remains tell us about Viking life.

So pause the video here, grab yourself a pen and some paper, and give yourself enough time to create your poster describing what was discovered at the Coppergate excavation.

And when you're ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? Let's take a look at an example, shall we? So, you may have written something a bit like this: Major Viking Discovery! The first fascinating finds of the Coppergate excavation were uncovered in 1972.

The moist, peaty soil preserved items that would normally rot away, which means that archaeologists have managed to excavate around 40,000 remains.

Organic items such as seeds and oyster shells tell us about how the Vikings may have lived.

They also uncovered leather, which was evidence of what clothes and accessories the Vikings wore.

This important discovery has changed what we know about the Vikings in York.

Well done for completing that learning task and if you managed to describe all of the different aspects of the Coppergate excavation.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about the discovery at Coppergate.

In 1972, builders constructing a new shopping centre in the Coppergate area of York made a discovery.

They were beginning to dig up huge amounts of Viking objects, so archaeologists were called in to excavate the area.

This became known as the Coppergate excavation.

The archaeologists discovered layers of moist and peaty soil that had preserved various organic remains, such as textiles, leather, and seeds.

These items have provided clues about what life was like in Viking York.

Thank you for joining me in today's lesson.

It's certainly been interesting, and I hope to see you at the next one.

See you then.