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Minecraft Lockdown Lesson Recreates Ancient Island Tomb
Minecraft Lockdown lesson recreates an ancient island tomb By George Herd BBC News
Find an archaeologist, a bored girl who is in coronavirus lockdown, and a common fascination with exploring tombs from the past.
The result? The video game Minecraft has recreated one of Wales most important Bronze Age sites.
It's Dr. Ben Edwards from Wrexham and his daughter Bella who have made it happen.
They are sharing their models of Anglesey's Bryn Celli Ddu with schools across the world.
The models can be loaded into the block-building universe of Minecraft, and explored to find out more about both the siteand Neolithic life and art.
The burial mound dates back an estimated 5,000 years, with its"passage tomb," or "passage tomb" whose entrance aligns perfectly with the sun at dawn on the summer solstice.
Recent excavations at this site, including those by the Manchester Metropolitan University archaeologist Dr Edwards himself, revealed the burial chamber was constructed as an "henge".
Like Stonehenge, this was a ritual enclosure consisting of the bank surrounding an inner ditch, which was enclosed by upright stones.
Dr Edwards used the digs along with work with researchers from the University of Central Lancashire, Wales' historical environment service Cadw to meticulously recreate Bryn Celli Ddu for the video game.
It was later integrated into the educational edition of Minecraft, which is used all over the globe to provide lessons on everything from chemistry to computer programming.
You can now add ancient Welsh history to the list.
From cromlechs to cairns - Wales' ancient burial sites
History of the world: The Bryn Celli Ddu Stone
Why the prehistoric built so many hill forts
BBC Radio 3: New Generation Thinkers' Seren Griffiths on Bryn Celli Ddu
"I knew that Bella had access to the education version of Minecraft at school here, near Wrexham and I had access to it at my university.
Dr. Edwards who worked on different computer models of Bryn Celli Ddu in the past and said that "So it was always on my head for a while..."
"It wasn't a priority, but now it's lockdown time and it's the Easter holiday, so you are homeschooling.
"I just said to Bella"Can you try this?'"
The game is well-known for its ability to build almost any kind of world or playground of graphic blocks.
While it might be an entertainment, Dr Edwards used the technique of Bryn Celli Ddu seriously and utilized actual geographical mapping data to recreate the landscape for the Minecraft models.
It includes the tomb itself in the manner it could have been constructed in the Bronze Age, and alongside it are burial mounds and pits have been discovered in the past few years.
Rock art recovered from Bryn Celli Ddu is also depicted in the game alongside an illustration of what could have been a Neolithic home might have looked like nearby.
Dr. Edwards stated that the most difficult thing to build was not the house , but the burial mounds.
before you point your finger at me
"It was planting the trees," he said.
Each one of them had to be "planted" by Bella and her dad as part of the Minecraft world.
Dr Edwards admitted that Bella was required to show her how to do many things because she uses it more frequently than I.
In the end, she approved of the final version and said it was "very realistic".
Her father told her, "And she knows because she used to go down to the excavations too."
Dr. Ffion Reynolds from Cadw said that it was precisely children like Bella who would benefit the most from the Minecraft model.
"We were looking for new ways to provide users with a digital experience of Bryn Celli Ddu." Dr. Reynolds, who would normally be spending the summer months giving guided tours of the excavations to students from the region.
"This was a way to maintain our relationship with these schools, and also offering them the option of visiting the website online."
Coronavirus restrictions mean that Cadw's facilities across Wales are closed to the public, including Bryn Celli Ddu.
It also meant that for the first time ever that those who celebrate the solstice weren't able to gather at the burial ground to observe the dawning phenomenon that took place there.
Dr Reynolds stated that access to the sunrise was possible using 360-degree filming.
She said Cadw hopes to make the footage available in the near future, along with opening the site back to visitors.
In the meantime, users who have access to Minecraft at home or in school can now access the site online in safety.
The Bryn Celli Ddu Minecraft world is free to download for the Minecraft Education version on Hwb - the Welsh Government's resource for teachers as well as from the Manchester Centre for Public History and Heritage.
For those looking for a more serious experience Dr. Andrews and his coworkers have developed an augmented reality application for Apple devices that can guide users around the actual site when it reopens.
New excavations at a the prehistoric burial site
15 June 2019
New discovery made at ancient tomb
23 June 2017
Around the BBC
BBC Radio 3: New Generation Thinkers
Bryn Celli Ddu
My Website: https://wickedfrise.com/
Minecraft Lockdown lesson recreates an ancient island tomb By George Herd BBC News
Find an archaeologist, a bored girl who is in coronavirus lockdown, and a common fascination with exploring tombs from the past.
The result? The video game Minecraft has recreated one of Wales most important Bronze Age sites.
It's Dr. Ben Edwards from Wrexham and his daughter Bella who have made it happen.
They are sharing their models of Anglesey's Bryn Celli Ddu with schools across the world.
The models can be loaded into the block-building universe of Minecraft, and explored to find out more about both the siteand Neolithic life and art.
The burial mound dates back an estimated 5,000 years, with its"passage tomb," or "passage tomb" whose entrance aligns perfectly with the sun at dawn on the summer solstice.
Recent excavations at this site, including those by the Manchester Metropolitan University archaeologist Dr Edwards himself, revealed the burial chamber was constructed as an "henge".
Like Stonehenge, this was a ritual enclosure consisting of the bank surrounding an inner ditch, which was enclosed by upright stones.
Dr Edwards used the digs along with work with researchers from the University of Central Lancashire, Wales' historical environment service Cadw to meticulously recreate Bryn Celli Ddu for the video game.
It was later integrated into the educational edition of Minecraft, which is used all over the globe to provide lessons on everything from chemistry to computer programming.
You can now add ancient Welsh history to the list.
From cromlechs to cairns - Wales' ancient burial sites
History of the world: The Bryn Celli Ddu Stone
Why the prehistoric built so many hill forts
BBC Radio 3: New Generation Thinkers' Seren Griffiths on Bryn Celli Ddu
"I knew that Bella had access to the education version of Minecraft at school here, near Wrexham and I had access to it at my university.
Dr. Edwards who worked on different computer models of Bryn Celli Ddu in the past and said that "So it was always on my head for a while..."
"It wasn't a priority, but now it's lockdown time and it's the Easter holiday, so you are homeschooling.
"I just said to Bella"Can you try this?'"
The game is well-known for its ability to build almost any kind of world or playground of graphic blocks.
While it might be an entertainment, Dr Edwards used the technique of Bryn Celli Ddu seriously and utilized actual geographical mapping data to recreate the landscape for the Minecraft models.
It includes the tomb itself in the manner it could have been constructed in the Bronze Age, and alongside it are burial mounds and pits have been discovered in the past few years.
Rock art recovered from Bryn Celli Ddu is also depicted in the game alongside an illustration of what could have been a Neolithic home might have looked like nearby.
Dr. Edwards stated that the most difficult thing to build was not the house , but the burial mounds.
before you point your finger at me
"It was planting the trees," he said.
Each one of them had to be "planted" by Bella and her dad as part of the Minecraft world.
Dr Edwards admitted that Bella was required to show her how to do many things because she uses it more frequently than I.
In the end, she approved of the final version and said it was "very realistic".
Her father told her, "And she knows because she used to go down to the excavations too."
Dr. Ffion Reynolds from Cadw said that it was precisely children like Bella who would benefit the most from the Minecraft model.
"We were looking for new ways to provide users with a digital experience of Bryn Celli Ddu." Dr. Reynolds, who would normally be spending the summer months giving guided tours of the excavations to students from the region.
"This was a way to maintain our relationship with these schools, and also offering them the option of visiting the website online."
Coronavirus restrictions mean that Cadw's facilities across Wales are closed to the public, including Bryn Celli Ddu.
It also meant that for the first time ever that those who celebrate the solstice weren't able to gather at the burial ground to observe the dawning phenomenon that took place there.
Dr Reynolds stated that access to the sunrise was possible using 360-degree filming.
She said Cadw hopes to make the footage available in the near future, along with opening the site back to visitors.
In the meantime, users who have access to Minecraft at home or in school can now access the site online in safety.
The Bryn Celli Ddu Minecraft world is free to download for the Minecraft Education version on Hwb - the Welsh Government's resource for teachers as well as from the Manchester Centre for Public History and Heritage.
For those looking for a more serious experience Dr. Andrews and his coworkers have developed an augmented reality application for Apple devices that can guide users around the actual site when it reopens.
New excavations at a the prehistoric burial site
15 June 2019
New discovery made at ancient tomb
23 June 2017
Around the BBC
BBC Radio 3: New Generation Thinkers
Bryn Celli Ddu
My Website: https://wickedfrise.com/
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