Sound and Performance in Public Archaeology: Examining the Benefits of Outdoor Learning with Creative Engagement at the Neolithic Site of Tinkinswood Burial Chamber, Vale of Glamorgan

Abstract

This paper explores a community archaeology project which took place at Tinkinswood chambered tomb and its surrounding landscape in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The project formed the school outreach element of the Tinkinswood Community Archaeology Project which included the excavation of three particular areas – two possible fallen burial chambers and the possible quarry for the 40-ton capstone used at Tinkinswood. The schools engaged in the project were the two closest primary schools to the sites: St Nicholas and Peterson-Super-Ely, in the Vale of Glamorgan. The children involved were given the chance to explore different ways of experiencing and interacting with the past through music and drama and by working outside of the school environment at Tinkinswood itself. The collection of interviews gathered reveal how the children perceive the Neolithic past, and especially about the way they felt more free, spontaneous, and natural through expressing ideas about the past at Tinkinswood itself, as opposed to being in the classroom. The results suggest that community archaeology can be used to ask big philosophical questions about mortality and religion, providing a new way to approach sensitive topics, without privileging one worldview over another.