An Educational Activity for Home or Classroom
Dilemma 1: Metal Detecting and Civil War Sites
Dilemma 2: A Site in Your Back Yard
The lot next to your house has been purchased. Your new neighbors will be building a house. You go over to the construction site on your bike to ride through the dirt piles. When you get to the top of the biggest pile, you notice a sunken, round area in the soil. You've heard your mother talk about the fact that a house was on the property a long, long time ago, but you're too young to remember any house. You ride your bike home to get a shovel, since you want to see what might be left from the old house. You dig where the soil is a different color in the sunken area. Artifacts begin to turn up after a short while. Even though you're tired, you keep digging, looking for more artifacts.
- Should you tell anyone what you have found?
- Is it safe to dig a deep hole?
- Do the artifacts belong to you since you were the one that found them?
- Are the artifacts worth a lot of money?
