Model of a Homo heidelbergensis man in the Smithsonian Museum. By Tim Evanson – http://www.flickr.com/photos/23165290@N00/7283200264/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20187505
If you have used online digital models of Palaeolithic people or animals to teach the Stone Age topic, please consider taking part in this survey from a Masters student of archaeology at the University of Reading. There is background to the research below.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/R86HWWJ
What is the potential for using digital models to enhance the engagement and learning of key stage 2 and 3 pupils with Palaeolithic collections?
I am investigating whether using online models of Palaeolithic material can enhance learning and engagement. Through trialling existing online models in the classroom I hope to understand whether this is a practical and useful resource for teachers. I hope that a resource such as this will be able to help pupils make interpretations of the prehistoric past and its artefacts in a way that is fun and engaging. Despite being online, I believe that these models have the same advantages as traditional object based learning. Moreover, it will also hopefully contribute to a better relationship between schools and museums and their collections.
An example of a 3D model you can view at africanfossils.org
Have you used any of these sites full of online 3D models of fossils or stone tools related to human evolution:
It would be good to see a word other than ‘homo’ used as the word ‘man’ was defined as gender specific in 1855 by British Act of Parliament. There was a furore at the time as women were then left out of the law. I would like to see Java Girl too. If anything it is women who are the species – men are biologically secondary women, although, as it is menstruation that makes us human, I wonder if men are in this category. I wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury about this as I saw that he takes the title of ‘Chief Primate of Britain’ !!
As we can see people of all social groupings living at the present day on TV the nonsense about the ‘caveman’ is tedious. Watching the men walk their territory was instructive as they bought nothing back. Women and men live largely separate lives. Also the main occupation of women in the world today is hunting, farming and fishing. People also lived in temporary dwellings and caves were places where both humans and animals found sanctuary to give birth – hence most cave painting (probably by women, and carvings by men). Less than 5% of cave paintings are about hunting.