As an archaeologist I’m always on the look out for really good introductory books on archaeology for my children and for those that come along to our local Young Archaeologist Club, which I am Assistant Leader. Its difficult to find books which are simple, engaging and explain some quite tricky concepts well. There is definitely a bit of a gap in the market and I can name the number of books which I think are suitable for the 3- 8 year old age group on one hand.
I was really surprised by Digging up the Past, it does all the things I want out of a book for this age brilliantly. The pages are engaging, the illustrations informative and simple, there is a really handy glossary with well explained terms and it isn’t too wordy. In short its one of the best young reader archaeology books I’ve found.
The thing which really lets the book down and has I must admit prevented me from picking it up before is the cover which has a picture of the Terracotta Warriors on it and is actually rather misleading. They should have put one of their drawings of archaeologists at work or a section on the front!
If your child likes archaeology then I cant recommend this book more highly, its simple to read and conveys a lot of information in an easily digestible manner. You can get hold of a copy here.
Disclaimer: I was gifted this book in exchange for a review
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