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Naachtun: lost city of the Maya

This resource is about the Mayan city of Naachtun rediscovered by archaeologists in 1922. It provides background material on the archaeological visits to the Mayan site from 1922 through to 2002, and describes the remnants of the structures and artefacts of the city, including stone monuments carved with hieroglyphic inscriptions ...

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Social pecking order in the Roman world

This interactive resource is about the social structure of Ancient Rome. It includes detailed information about the stratification of Roman society and how this affected people's lives. The topics covered are: Legal status; Citizen and non-citizen - which includes information about the imperial hierarchy, the Senate and ...

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Medieval stonemasons

This resource is about the medieval stonemason. It includes text and some images. The resource is organised under four topic headings: A mason's craft; Soaring monuments; Heavenly Jerusalem; and Find out more. Interposed in the text are images of Ely Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral and Wells Cathedral.

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Viking women

This resource is about the role of women in the Viking world. It includes text and some images. The resource is organised under six topic headings: Female Vikings?; Viking women in England; Scandinavian immigration; Daily life; Women of influence; and Find out more. The images are interposed in the text.

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Winding gear animation

This animated resource is about technical innovations in 19th-century Britain. It shows the winding gear used in coalmines to raise and lower people or equipment in a cage. Background material is provided, an animation shows how the winding gear operates and a quiz tests students' knowledge of the names of the parts of ...

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Spinning mill animation

This resource is about spinning mills in 19th-century Britain. The animation shows how a spinning mill used line shafting to spin cotton. Students read text material, then view the stages of line shafting: coal-fired furnaces produce steam, which passes through the valves and powers the piston rod; the piston rod transfers ...

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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 ...

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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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Beam engine animation

This animated resource is about innovation in steam engine technology in 19th-century Britain. It shows an early steam engine called the beam engine, which was developed to pump out floodwater from the deep mines in Cornwall. It includes background material, an animation of the workings of the beam engine, a clear, detailed ...

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Viking religion

This resource is about the Vikings attitude to religion. It includes text and some images. The resource is organised under six topic headings: The age of conversion; Pagan belief; Gods and giants; Pagan and Christian together; Conversion in Scandinavia; and Find out more. Interposed in the text are images of an amulet, ...

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The Mongols' pastoral-nomadic life

This resource, a component of the online resource The Mongols in world history, details the nomadic lifestyle of the Mongols and the rise of Temujin (Genghis Khan). It includes a list of the animals upon which the precarious pastoral-nomadic life of the Mongols depended. It describes the various uses of the animals by the ...

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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 ...

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Black Death: the effect of the plague

This resource is about the effects of the plague, known as the Black Death, in rural England from 1348 to 1352. The resource describes deserted villages in rural England, uninhabited after the death of the population from the plague. It reports that the biggest effect of the plague was in rural areas because most people ...

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Black Death

This resource is about the plague that broke out in England from 1348-49. It provides an overview of the plague in the British Isles beginning with the initial outbreak in Dorset, which then spread to England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The resource includes many contemporary descriptions of the plague, the death toll ...

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Ottoman Empire (1301-1922)

This resource is about the rise and fall of the Islamic Ottoman Empire. It includes text and some images. The resource is organised under eight topic headings: Introduction; Why was the Empire successful?; Constantinople; Other religions; Sultan and court; Suleiman – a golden age; Decline; and Find out more. The images ...

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Ancient China: geography

This is a rich online resource about the geography of China. It consists of four sections: a Geography section that summarises China's geographical features; a Story section that features myths about Nu Gua, the creator of humans; an Explore section that includes maps of ancient China; and a Challenge section where the ...

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Ancient China: geography - challenge

This is a game entitled 'Where do I live?' in which the user matches a set of four people and animals to the areas in China where they live. The challenge is based on understanding the different geographical features of seven regions and two river basins in China and identifying which of these matches the habitats of the ...

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Ancient China: geography - explore

This is a resource featuring six interactive maps and associated tools that address different aspects of the geography of China. The maps include geographical features and important cities, archaeological sites and political boundaries in ancient times, as well as a modern political map. The maps of ancient China depict ...

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Ancient China: geography - how Nu Gua created human beings

This is an animated text accompanied by notes that recounts two myths about the goddess Nu Gua and the Yellow River. The first describes how Nu Gua created human beings, first by making models of the gods from the yellow clay of the river to create the rich and fortunate, and then by flicking droplets of clay to create ...

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Ancient China: religion

This is a rich teacher resource about religious and funerary practices in ancient China. It contains: seven background information sheets; three lesson plans for whole-class discussions to introduce particular topics connected to tombs and the goods found within them; an inquiry-grid worksheet for gathering information ...