On four scorching hot days in July, CBA Wales once again encouraged visitors to the Royal Welsh Show to interact with archaeologists – this time including a super popular mini excavation. Our kind friends at CPRW gave us part of their stand, whilst sponsoring the wool han-dling and shearing competitions. To fit this theme, we joined with Clywd Powys Archaeological Trust to provide a small exhibition about the impact of sheep on our landscape, examples of the archaeological evidence and finds handling, and a number of wool and sheep related ‘have a go’ craft activities including a peg loom and drop spindle.
It was, of course, our mini-sheep themed excavation which proved to be the most popular activity with participants aged between 2 and 80 (ish!). Sheep bones and associated artefacts were unearthed again and again, whilst learning how to examine and interpret the evidence we found. Many families returned several times to dig up the past and hopefully we have recruited quite a number of future Young Ar-chaeologists Club members.
Source: CBAW 59, Autumn 2019