The Young Archeologist

During the summer holidays, young Ben went with Henry and his family to stay in the camping ground at Charmouth where he watched people on the beach fossicking for Ammonites and other Jurassic stuff. He thought it was funny that they were even happy to find dinosaur poo! Anyone who found things seemed very happy and excited with what the picked up!

They paid a visit to Lyme Regis and in the museum he looked at the bones of the scary Ichthyosaurus! It was very big with huge teeth! Later Henry told Ben about Mary Anning who found lots of stuff along the beach ages ago.

Ben’s interest was sparked by the fossils found on the Jurassic Coast and at home he happened to see Baldrick on a TV programme called Time Team, where they dug up all sorts of old and interesting stuff! Even broken things seemed to give them a kick!

 

The school holidays were still on, so one day Ben waited until his Dad was away at work so he could start his own archeological dig in their back lawn, just like in the TV programme.

When Ben dug a big hole his mother warned him that Dad would be angry when he came home to see what a mess the lawn was in.

‘But Mum,’ wailed Ben, ‘I’ve found some really interesting things!’

‘Nonsense!’ growled his mother and off she went for coffee and gossip with Mildred and Doreen.

Ben’s Dad didn’t seem too worried about the hole or the mess, because he had stopped off at the pub on the way home, so was in a good mood! Actually, he couldn’t have cared less!

The next day, Ben dug some more and found another lot of artifacts so he labeled them all and boxed them up ready to send off to the museum. He knew what each item was because he had found pictures of them in the thick encyclopedia that his Dad won in a raffle at the pub. He told Ben it would be handy someday. 

There was Lucy’s scull – or one very like it. And it had marks where a saber tooth tiger had bitten it! Probably ate the poor person!

There was the thighbone of a T. rex.

There was an ancient Egyptian comb. Probably from the 3^rd dynasty.

There was an ancient Roman pot. And it was filled with ancient sand, maybe even from a pyramid.

Finally he included an old Roman coin! It had the name Pint or something dimly written on it.

Ben carefully wrote a letter to the museum telling them where he had found the items and with his mother’s help (and stamps) he sent the box off to the museum. There had been an a big argument argument with mother because she had thought the whole episode a bit silly and squarely blamed Henry!

A week later, a letter arrived addressed to Ben and on the envelope there was a stamp that read National Museum. He couldn’t wait to open it and ripped at the envelope.

The letter said, ‘Dear Ben, thank you for the artifacts that you sent us, they were well labeled and protected but unfortunately you have not identified them correctly. For you information, the following is what you have actually found.

‘The head is not prehistoric; it is in fact the severed head of a Ken doll of the Barbie tribe. A dog, and not a saber tooth tiger has made the teeth marks.

The bone you found is not a dinosaur thighbone but a chicken leg bone, probably dropped after a past BBQ in your back yard.

The comb is not ancient at all but is made from plastic and is the sort your Granny might use to keep her hair in place.

The vessel you found is not actually a Roman pot, but it is a rusty tin mug, and the sand in the bottom indicates that a child played with it with in a sand pit.

The coin is interesting, although it is not Roman. It is a plastic milk token used to purchase milk 30 years ago. They were used to stop people stealing money left out for the milkman.

The museum has plenty of these.’

Ben’s brother Albert, was tickled at the mistakes the he had made and made fun of him, so Ben poked him in the eye!

He went off archeology after that and because he found a screwdriver and amused himself by jabbing at things with it - especially flies!

Ben’s Dad, took advantage of the hole that Ben had dug, filling it with cow manure and soil to make a very nice vegetable garden!

So in the end Ben was quite happy how it all ended because in the garden, as well as vegetables, his father, planted strawberries! Ben’s favorite!