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Over the past year, Edinburgh YAC enjoyed ten sessions, all on the theme of communication.
As YAC leader Katy Firth explained: "The aim was to achieve Heritage Hero Awards from Archaeology Scotland. The sessions ranged from Egyptian hieroglyphics to First World War coastal defences. The young people wanted to make a film to share their experiences and inspire others about YAC."
Check out their fabulous (and funny!) film at the bottom of the page. You can also watch it on YouTube.
One of the first sessions in Edinburgh YAC's communication-themed year looked at the First World War defences along the Forth estuary.
Katy explained, "We divided into teams to do some research – looking at old photos, War Office plans and modern photos. We played a game where the YAC members had to “man” the defences of a scale model of the Forth and they had to throw small balls at a mock German torpedo boat. They hit the boat so many times that it almost certainly would have sunk – and therefore they realised how well defended the Forth was during the First World War. To finish the session, the YAC members used the computer game Minecraft to re-build (and in some cases re-imagine) Hound Point Battery."
If you are interested in finding out more about the archaeology of the First World War that you can discover here in the UK, check out the fun resources and activities available from the Council for British Archaeology's Home Front Legacy 1914-18 project.
Edinburgh YAC members hiked up two of the hillforts in Holyrood Park – Dunsapie and Crow Hill – and then tried out different ways of communicating with each other. They tried several – to mixed success – as Katy explains:
"We tried using flags, using Semaphore as our messaging system. We experimented with light signals – using Morse Code. Unfortunately we didn't have a carnyx (a type of Iron Age instrument) so we tried communicating by sound with drums, a trombone and a vuvuzela (the plastic horn made popular during the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa)! The sound signals worked well, using a messaging system that was slightly Morse like!"
Edinburgh YAC members also learnt about Egyptian hieroglyphs during their communication-themed YAC year... and the members did achieve their Heritage Heroes Awards!
Congratulations from everyone at YAC HQ!
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