Caveat Academy course · Grades 6 to 10

Archaeology and Ancient Discoveries

How archaeologists find, dig, date and read the past: why context matters more than treasure, how lidar and radar find buried sites, how tree rings and radiocarbon give dates, what bones and seeds reveal, the stories behind Tutankhamun, Pompeii and the Terracotta Army, and the new finds rewriting the story. Six modules at your own pace, with a certificate at the end.

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$19one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $19

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Middle school course library, $79 for 28 items.

6 modules · 18 lessonsabout 12 hours$19

Six modules, eighteen lessons

Each module ends with a practice set that tracks mastery, an explain-it-back prompt, a short written response and a module exam. The final opens when every module is proficient; passing it earns a certificate with a verification code.

  1. Module 1: What archaeology is

    Classify finds as artifacts, features and ecofacts, and explain why context, provenience and ethical rules protect what sites can tell us.

    • What archaeologists study
    • Context is everything
    • Archaeology, the law and ethics
    about 2.1 h

  2. Module 2: Finding and excavating sites

    Describe how sites are found with survey and remote sensing, excavated in recorded layers and analyzed in the lab.

    • Finding sites
    • Excavation
    • In the lab
    about 2.1 h

  3. Module 3: Dating the past

    Apply relative and absolute dating methods, including superposition, seriation, tree rings, radiocarbon half-lives and volcanic dating.

    • Relative dating
    • Tree rings and radiocarbon
    • Dating very old sites and objects without carbon
    about 2.1 h

  4. Module 4: Reading daily life from the evidence

    Analyze bones, food remains and tools to reconstruct diet, health, work and technology.

    • What bones and bodies reveal
    • What people ate
    • Tools, technology and the three ages
    about 2.1 h

  5. Module 5: Great discoveries

    Explain how the great discoveries of Tutankhamun, Pompeii and the Terracotta Army were made, recorded and protected.

    • Tutankhamun's tomb
    • Pompeii and Herculaneum
    • The Terracotta Army
    about 2.1 h

  6. Module 6: New discoveries and the future of the past

    Evaluate how new evidence from Göbekli Tepe and the earliest American sites has revised long-held models of the past.

    • Göbekli Tepe: monuments before farming
    • The first Americans
    • The future of the past, and your place in it
    about 2.1 h

Try it before you start

This is how every lesson works: step through a worked example at your own pace, then answer a check and get the reason right away. Nothing here is saved; the course keeps your progress.

Module 3 · Tree rings and radiocarbon

Worked example: dating a hearth

  1. Charcoal from a hearth has 25 percent of the carbon-14 that living wood has.

A lesson check from each module

The checks need JavaScript turned on. The course itself works the same way.

What you get

Academics · Middle School$19 · included with the Academy pass and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A finished semester of archaeology: you can sort finds into artifacts, features and ecofacts, explain why context and the law protect sites, plan a survey and record an excavation, date a layer with superposition, seriation, tree rings and radiocarbon half-lives, read diet, health and work from bones, seeds and tools, tell the stories of the great discoveries accurately, and weigh how new evidence has changed the story of the first Americans and the first monuments. Passing the final earns a Caveat certificate of completion.
Who it is for
Students in grades 6 to 10 who love ancient history, mummies and lost cities, are curious about how scientists know how old things are, or are thinking about archaeology or museum work; homeschool families who want a complete semester unit. The course teaches that digging or collecting on public land without a permit is illegal and suggests legal ways to take part.
Format
An online self-paced course: 6 modules and 18 lessons with worked examples you reveal step by step, 144 practice and exam items (multiple choice, numeric, fill-in and ordering), an explain-it-back prompt and a rubric-checked short response in every module, module exams with one retake, a 24-question final and a certificate with a verification code. About 12 hours in all; works on a phone or a computer.
Access
$19 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the course opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Middle school course library ($79) and the Academics Suite pass ($149), and 1 more bundle. Progress is saved in this browser on this device, and the certificate page lets you download your record.
Where it lives
The Middle School space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Access, a receipt, a refund or a correction to the course: team@caveatacademic.com.

How it works

  1. Open the course and start Module 1. Each lesson takes about 25 to 35 minutes; two or three a week finishes the course in about a semester.
  2. Answer the checks as you read. Every answer shows the reason, and a miss links you back to the lesson that covers it.
  3. Finish each module with its practice set and exam. Proficient on every module opens the final; 70 percent passes it.
  4. Print or download your certificate and record from the certificate page.

Start the course

Sources and accuracy

The lessons are original writing by Caveat Academic Services. Facts were checked against these free, open references, which are also good places to read further.

  1. National Park Service, Archeology Program: nps.gov/subjects/archeology
  2. Society for American Archaeology, archaeology for the public: saa.org
  3. Archaeological Park of Pompeii: pompeiisites.org
  4. South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Ötzi the Iceman: iceman.it
  5. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and Göbekli Tepe: whc.unesco.org

Archaeology and Ancient Discoveries is a self-paced course from Caveat Academic Services. It follows the sequence of a typical one-semester archaeology elective but does not replace a school course or award credit. It describes U.S. federal laws in general terms; rules for other land differ from place to place, so never dig or collect without permission. Dates are given as the ranges researchers currently report, and new research may revise them. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.