Classroom visit of Archaeologist Tamlyn McHugh
The classes of Ms McGillen and Ms Woods enjoyed a visit from Fadó Archaeologist Tamlyn McHugh last week.
Tamlyn spoke to the children about the many archaeological finds in the local and surrounding areas. There was one in particular in Ballyshannon. Tamlyn was a part of the group who got to investigate the site and retrieve important artefacts.
The children were lucky to see replicas of a shield, axe and dagger which were used in the Bronze Age. There was also a variety of animal skulls, hides and arrowheads.
Tamlyn explained that many items are found in boglands which were formerly lakes. She talked about the equipment her team would need to use when excavating a site e.g. brushes, shovels, trowels, sieves and diggers.
Stone Age – Items such as axes were made from stone (flint). This was about 6,000 years ago. They made spearheads and arrowheads out of stone. They were very skilled.
Bronze Age – They made weapons with metal. Stone would still be used as metal was expensive to purchase. They mined for copper and tin. These both make bronze. You could only get copper in Cork and Kerry. Tin was found in Cornwall, UK. So the people used to trade. If you had bronze, it showed you were rich and powerful.
The children thoroughly enjoyed the visit. All the children found the information very interesting. We want to thank Tamlyn for visiting our school.
