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Minecraft: Lockdown Lesson Recreates Ancient Island Tomb
Minecraft: Lockdown lesson recreates ancient island tomb By George Herd BBC News
Imagine an archaeologist and a bored schoolgirl locked down by coronavirus. They share 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 is Dr Ben Edwards from Wrexham and his daughter Bella who have achieved it.
They are sharing their models of Anglesey's Bryn Celli Ddu with classrooms all over the world.
The models can be loaded into Minecraft's block-building world. You can also browse the site to find out more about Neolithic life and Art.
The burial mound dates back 5 000 years, and is the known as the "passage tomb" whose entrance aligns perfectly with the sun's rays at dawn on the solstice of summer.
Recent excavations at the site, including one by the Manchester Metropolitan University archaeologist Dr Edwards himself, have revealed that the burial chamber was constructed as an "henge".
This was similar to Stonehenge and comprised of a bank that was surrounded by an internal ditch, enclosed in a circle with upright stones.
Dr Edwards has made use of the digs, alongside work with researchers from the University of Central Lancashire and Wales' historical environment service Cadw, to painstakingly recreate Bryn Celli Ddu in the video game.
It was then integrated into the educational edition of Minecraft, which is used all over the globe to teach lessons on everything from chemistry to computer coding.
Now you can add a bit of ancient Welsh history.
From cromlechs to cairns - Wales ancient burial sites
The history of the world The Bryn Celli Ddu stone
Why did the prehistoric build so many hill forts?
BBC Radio 3: Seren Griffiths, New Generation Thinkers on Bryn Celli Ddu
"I knew that Bella had access to the educational version of Minecraft at her school, near Wrexham and I had access to it at my university.
"So it was always at the back of my mind for a while to do something in Minecraft," said Dr Edwards, who has worked on more mature computer models of Bryn Celli Ddu in the past.
"It was not a top priority, but then it's lockdown, and it's the Easter holiday, and you're homeschooling.
"I just said to Bella"Shall we take a crack at this?'"
The game is renowned for being able to build almost anything from graphic blocks, resulting in massive playgrounds and worlds.
Although it could be a game, Dr Edwards took the approach to Bryn Celli Ddu seriously, and employed actual data from the mapping of geographical areas to recreate the landscape for Minecraft models.
It also includes the actual tomb as it was in the Bronze Age and other burial pits or mounds discovered in recent times.
Rock art recovered from Bryn Celli Ddu is also represented in the game, alongside a model of what could have been a Neolithic home may have looked like near by.
Dr. Edwards said that the most difficult thing to build was not the home or the burial mounds.
He said, "It was planting trees."
Each one was individually "planted" and tended by Bella and her father, as part of the Minecraft world.
"Bella had to demonstrate to me how to do a lot of things, as she is more adept than I do," Dr Edwards confessed.
In the end, she was in favour of the final version and said it was "very real".
"And she's aware of it, since she used to come down to the diggings as well," her father added.
Dr Ffion Reynolds, from Cadw, said it was specifically children like Bella who would benefit from playing with the Minecraft model.
Dr. Reynolds stated, "We were looking at creative ways to provide people with an experience in digital form of Bryn Celli Ddu," and he'd normally be out in the summer giving guided tours through the excavations to schools in the area.
"This was a way to continue our relationship with these schools and also provide them with a way to 'visit' the website online."
Coronavirus restrictions mean Cadw's sites across Wales are closed to the public including Bryn Celli Ddu.
It also meant that, for the first year in years, people who celebrate the summer solstice weren't able to be at the burial site to observe the dawn phenomenon there.
"However, it did allow us to access an exclusive camera crew, and we have been able to film the sunrise in the area using 360-degree videography," Dr Reynolds added.
She stated that Cadw hopes to release the footage in the very near future, as well as reopening the site to visitors.
let's talk about games
Those who have access to Minecraft at home or in school can now access the site digitally - in complete safety.
The Bryn Celli Du Minecraft world is free to download on Hwb, the Welsh Government's website for teaching resources. Also available from the Manchester Centre for Public History and Heritage.
For those who want an experience that is more serious, Dr Andrews and his team have developed an augmented reality app available for Apple devices, which can help users navigate the site once it is reopened.
New dig at 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
Read More: https://s-games.net/
Minecraft: Lockdown lesson recreates ancient island tomb By George Herd BBC News
Imagine an archaeologist and a bored schoolgirl locked down by coronavirus. They share 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 is Dr Ben Edwards from Wrexham and his daughter Bella who have achieved it.
They are sharing their models of Anglesey's Bryn Celli Ddu with classrooms all over the world.
The models can be loaded into Minecraft's block-building world. You can also browse the site to find out more about Neolithic life and Art.
The burial mound dates back 5 000 years, and is the known as the "passage tomb" whose entrance aligns perfectly with the sun's rays at dawn on the solstice of summer.
Recent excavations at the site, including one by the Manchester Metropolitan University archaeologist Dr Edwards himself, have revealed that the burial chamber was constructed as an "henge".
This was similar to Stonehenge and comprised of a bank that was surrounded by an internal ditch, enclosed in a circle with upright stones.
Dr Edwards has made use of the digs, alongside work with researchers from the University of Central Lancashire and Wales' historical environment service Cadw, to painstakingly recreate Bryn Celli Ddu in the video game.
It was then integrated into the educational edition of Minecraft, which is used all over the globe to teach lessons on everything from chemistry to computer coding.
Now you can add a bit of ancient Welsh history.
From cromlechs to cairns - Wales ancient burial sites
The history of the world The Bryn Celli Ddu stone
Why did the prehistoric build so many hill forts?
BBC Radio 3: Seren Griffiths, New Generation Thinkers on Bryn Celli Ddu
"I knew that Bella had access to the educational version of Minecraft at her school, near Wrexham and I had access to it at my university.
"So it was always at the back of my mind for a while to do something in Minecraft," said Dr Edwards, who has worked on more mature computer models of Bryn Celli Ddu in the past.
"It was not a top priority, but then it's lockdown, and it's the Easter holiday, and you're homeschooling.
"I just said to Bella"Shall we take a crack at this?'"
The game is renowned for being able to build almost anything from graphic blocks, resulting in massive playgrounds and worlds.
Although it could be a game, Dr Edwards took the approach to Bryn Celli Ddu seriously, and employed actual data from the mapping of geographical areas to recreate the landscape for Minecraft models.
It also includes the actual tomb as it was in the Bronze Age and other burial pits or mounds discovered in recent times.
Rock art recovered from Bryn Celli Ddu is also represented in the game, alongside a model of what could have been a Neolithic home may have looked like near by.
Dr. Edwards said that the most difficult thing to build was not the home or the burial mounds.
He said, "It was planting trees."
Each one was individually "planted" and tended by Bella and her father, as part of the Minecraft world.
"Bella had to demonstrate to me how to do a lot of things, as she is more adept than I do," Dr Edwards confessed.
In the end, she was in favour of the final version and said it was "very real".
"And she's aware of it, since she used to come down to the diggings as well," her father added.
Dr Ffion Reynolds, from Cadw, said it was specifically children like Bella who would benefit from playing with the Minecraft model.
Dr. Reynolds stated, "We were looking at creative ways to provide people with an experience in digital form of Bryn Celli Ddu," and he'd normally be out in the summer giving guided tours through the excavations to schools in the area.
"This was a way to continue our relationship with these schools and also provide them with a way to 'visit' the website online."
Coronavirus restrictions mean Cadw's sites across Wales are closed to the public including Bryn Celli Ddu.
It also meant that, for the first year in years, people who celebrate the summer solstice weren't able to be at the burial site to observe the dawn phenomenon there.
"However, it did allow us to access an exclusive camera crew, and we have been able to film the sunrise in the area using 360-degree videography," Dr Reynolds added.
She stated that Cadw hopes to release the footage in the very near future, as well as reopening the site to visitors.
let's talk about games
Those who have access to Minecraft at home or in school can now access the site digitally - in complete safety.
The Bryn Celli Du Minecraft world is free to download on Hwb, the Welsh Government's website for teaching resources. Also available from the Manchester Centre for Public History and Heritage.
For those who want an experience that is more serious, Dr Andrews and his team have developed an augmented reality app available for Apple devices, which can help users navigate the site once it is reopened.
New dig at 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
Read More: https://s-games.net/
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