Activity: Rebuild a pot

Archaeologists can tell a lot about the people they study by looking at the ceramics they made. Try it yourself. Have an adult put two or three ceramic containers (plates, bowls, cups, flower pots, etc.) into a cloth bag. Don't peek. Drop the bag on hard ground, breaking them into medium-to large-sized pieces. Archaeologists call these pieces "shards." Mix all the shards together in a box.

Now sort them by color of glaze, decoration, type of clay, etc. Look at each shard and guess how the pot fit together to make a whole. Can you tell what shape it was? What size? Can you guess what it might have been used for? Lay out the shards in a way that will make reconstruction easy. Put the pot back together, using masking tape to hold the shards. Is the pot the shape and size you guessed?

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