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Mummification in Bronze Age Britain

This resource is about the discovery of two Bronze Age mummies in Britain. It describes the discovery by a team of archaeologists of the bodies of a male and a female under the floor of a prehistoric house on the Hebridean Island of South Uist. It presents the evidence for mummification following investigations using archaeological ...

Interactive

Interactive map of Auschwitz

This interactive map is about the evolution of the concentration camp complex at Auschwitz in Poland. It outlines the racial and biological basis of Nazi persecution, and traces the development of the camp established at Auschwitz. A series of maps and explanatory text describe: German territorial expansion by 1942; anti-Jewish ...

Interactive

Muck and brass

This interactive game is about town planning in Britain during the Industrial Revolution. It focuses on towns that have experienced rapid growth due to industrialisation but which have poor air quality and no efficient sewage disposal. Students assume the role of advisor to a town councillor who wants to improve the health ...

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Agricultural revolution in England 1500-1850

The resource is about the agricultural revolution in England. It includes a discussion of the ongoing controversy over when and how the agricultural system changed from being one of peasant farmers working in a subsistence economy to a capitalist farming system, using new machinery and supporting millions of people in the ...

Audio

Genghis Khan

This resource is a BBC audio recording about Genghis Khan. It consists of an interview by Melvyn Bragg with three historians of the period, discussing Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire. The discussion includes details of Genghis Khan's birth in the 12th century, his early life, his leadership of a great empire and his ...

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Sketch of a slave cabin in Virginia, 1864

This is a black-and-white sketch showing a slave cabin with a small girl standing in front. The handwritten caption reads 'Slave Cabin near the Long Bridge, Chicahominy River, Va [Virginia], June 13th 1864'. The artist was Edwin Forbes and elsewhere on the drawing he noted, 'Sketched while on the march from Long Bridge ...

Image

'Effects of the Fugitive-Slave-Law', 1850

This is a black-and-white print showing four African Americans attacked in an ambush by six armed white men. One of the white men is firing as two others reload their guns, and two of the African Americans have been hit. The print is a denunciation of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, its effect reinforced by two quotations ...

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'Washington, DC Government charwoman', 1942

This is a famous black-and-white anti-discrimination photograph, also widely known as 'American Gothic, Washington, DC'. It shows Mrs Ella Watson, an African American cleaner at the Treasury in Washington, USA. She is standing stiffly in front of the US flag, with a broom on one side and a mop on the other. The photograph ...

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Thornhill plantation house, 2010

This is the two-storey Thornhill plantation house in Greene County, Alabama, showing the southern facade with its two-story portico of six Ionic columns across the front, and the eastern-side elevation. The photograph was taken by Carol Highsmith.

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'The day of Jubelo', 1865

This is a black-and-white photographic print of a painting by Edmund Birckhead Bensell showing African Americans, probably freed slaves, dancing, drinking, making music and sliding down the banister in a large house in the US south. The print is attached to a cardboard mount. The printed caption gives the title and includes ...

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'Landing negroes at Jamestown from Dutch man-of-war, 1619'

This is a black-and-white illustration showing how the well-known American artist Howard Pyle (1853-1911) imagined the landing of the first Africans at Jamestown in the colony of Virginia nearly 300 years after the historical event. Pyle depicts 20 emaciated captives kneeling or sitting on the ground, guarded by men with ...

Video

Stephenson's Rocket animation

This animated resource is about innovation in railway technology in 19th-century Britain. It models an early steam locomotive called Stephenson's Rocket, which won the Rainhill Trials in 1829, a competition to find the best locomotive engine for a railway line approaching completion. It includes background material, an ...

Video

Blast furnace animation

This resource is about blast furnaces and innovations in smelting iron in 18th-century Britain. The animation show how a blast furnace used a combination of iron ore and limestone with coke to produce iron. Students read text material and then view the animation, which also includes a segment on how to build a blast furnace.

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Black Death: the disease

The resource is about the plague, the disease known as Black Death in 14th-century England. It describes the three variations of the disease: bubonic, pneumonic and septicaemic, and the causes and symptoms of the disease. It also considers the origins of the bacteria, the conditions needed for an epidemic to occur and the ...

Interactive

Who wants to be a cotton millionaire?

This interactive game is about innovation in textile production in Britain in the 19th century. It focuses on the changes in the manufacturing of cotton, which shifted from the home to the factory with the advent of the steam engine. Students assume the role of advisor to a businessman who wants to manufacture cotton and ...

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Unmasking the Maya: preserving the culture

This resource is chiefly about the preservation of the Maya culture in the USA. It covers the Maya Indians today, the rich ancient Maya culture that existed from 500 BCE to 1519 CE, when the Spanish conquered them, and those Maya who emigrate today to the USA in search of a better life. The resource presents the Monkey ...

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Stories: journey to the west

This is a two-part presentation of slides, telling and illustrating the Chinese Buddhist legend of 'Journey to the west'. 'Part 1: the adventures of Monkey' introduces the main character, Monkey, and the folk story outlines how his character evolves, becoming boastful and mischievous. 'Part 2: preparing for the great journey' ...

Interactive

The importance of protecting local Indigenous heritage

Students research the history of The Hills Shire Darug tribe in the importance of Indigenous sites in the area and Indigenous names associated with the North West region of Sydney. Students gain an understanding of local Indigenous groups’ connection to North West region communities through individual Indigenous inspired ...

Video

Mabo: the native title revolution

This a multi-layered website about the life and times of Eddie Mabo and the part he played in Indigenous land rights, produced by the National Sound and Film Archive. There are section headings on: The Mabo film; Mer; The man; The case; Native title; Land rights; and Terra Nullius. Each heading has multiple subheadings ...

Online

Meet the food system

This unit of work consists of two parts, supported by lesson plans, slides and handouts and teachers guides. The first part examines the food system as a complex network that is deeply connected to health, society, and the environment. The second part explores key milestones in the history of agriculture, with a focus on ...