ABSTRACT

Archaeology and history are both concerned with studying the evidence of the past, and share many aims (cf. Elton 1967; Rahtz 1985). The most comprehensive statement of the aims of studying history in schools is contained in the revised curriculum orders for England (DfEE and QCA 1999a, 1999b), which offer a statement outlining the distinctive contribution of history to the school curriculum (‘The Importance of History’). These aims can be grouped into three sets based on what we learn from our study of the past. The three sets are:

Learning about the past: knowledge and understanding of the events and features of past times.