Digging Into History

One of my earliest gaming memories is watching my dad play Age of Empires and Age of Mythology. I wasn't able to play myself as I was quite young, but I loved to watch him play and was intrigued by the ancient cultures on the screen.

I have a vivid memory of asking him questions about the different settings and groups of people we were playing as and fighting in the game. It brought the ancient world to life (albeit for entertainment and with a focus on warfare).

Seeing the Middle Ages depicted in this way got me wanting to know more. I wanted to find out if the history that was unfolding in the game was actually what happened in real life like men getting into Troy in a wooden horse. I scoured my school library for books on the era and devoured the Horrible Histories series.

Disposition

Gripped By History

TRANSFORMATION

Laura started to build an interest in history, rather than feeling that it was something distant, it was something interesting that she felt excited about.

Activities: Laura found that the following related activities worked alongside playing Age of Empires IV:

Horrible Histories

READING

The Horrible Histories books are a good way to engage youngsters in history.
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First Steps In Tombs

As a young child, I enjoyed exploring the world of Tomb Raider although I didn't even know what archaeology was. At times I would get help from my dad, but mostly I was keen to play these games on my own even if that meant I didn't progress very quickly.

As a young girl, there was something thrilling about being Lara Croft, the intelligent adventurous female protagonist. She captured my imagination and made me want to do the things that she did.

In particular, the puzzle aspect of the game where you have to put together the different pieces of history to unlock doors or trigger traps stood out. The combination of real history with fantastical magic and riches captured my imagination.

I remember making up games with my sister when we toured ancient sites on holiday, imagining the clues and mysteries that we could solve or which architecture we could climb if we were Lara Croft.

Knowledge

First Steps In Archeology

TRANSFORMATION

Laura started building an understanding of what archaeology entailed (and how real archaeology was quite different to the rush-in-and-destroy approach of Tomb Raider games).

Activities: Laura found that the following related activities worked alongside playing Tomb Raider:

Family Trip To Aztec Pyramids

TRIP

After visiting many ancient sites in the game, I had the chance to visit the Aztec pyramids when I was about 15. This cemented my love of the ancient world.
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Horrible Histories

FILMS AND SERIES

The Horrible Histories films and series are a great way for kids to extend gaming in historic places to understanding the wider picture.
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Decoding Fantastical Discoveries

I was always a fan of the Metroid games in general. Digging around, and fighting aliens was a lot of fun - and Samus was another female protagonist I found inspiring. But it was the Metroid Prime series that really caught my imagination.

Not only did they take space exploration into 3D but investigation and discovery of the different planets and alien history was possible. These weren't empty chambers you battled through, but the ruins of an imaginary ancient civilisation.

I spent hours (much longer than I needed) scanning every artefact I found to piece together the lore and history of the game. This combination of action and archaeology was perfect for me. I loved the web of side-quests that slowly built the codex encyclopaedia of information.

It was hard work, but while friends raced through to complete the game, I took my time with my methodical and meticulous approach to (eventually) find everything.

Identity

Becoming An Archaeologist

TRANSFORMATION

Laura increasingly liked the idea of being someone who knew about archaeology and valued the detailed work of piecing things together.

Narrative Archaeology

As I continued with my studies, now at university, I enjoyed the whole series of Uncharted games (although they couldn’t really hold a candle to Lara Croft). It was while I studied different motivations for archaeology and something about Uncharted's strong focus on story clicked for me and informed my direction of study in the field.

This not only meant following the characters on the ups and downs of their adventures, but also placing the culture, treasure and artefacts they found in a narrative. You stand in the shoes of a treasure hunter but then get to make sense of the things they find.

This idea of piecing together the stories told by ancient objects, and the value of also filling the gaps creatively made a lot of sense to me. The Uncharted games were all about the "what if" questions of archaeological finds. Of course, in the game the "What if?" was about fortune and supernatural powers, but the premise was the same. Objects were important not just for their age or atomistic implications, but also for how they enable us to construct important and fascinating tales of where we came from.

This was underlined when I had a chance to take part in the Ardnamurchan Transitions Project, a long-running investigation of the archaeology and history of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, Western Scotland. This was somewhere I had visited in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Finding objects as part of this trip reminded me of the game and the questions that the game would raise about item's values or curses.

Experience

Importance of Stories

TRANSFORMATION

The experience of playing the treasure hunting in the game along with the real-world archaeology combined to create an experience that focused Laura on the value of narrative.

Activities: Laura found that the following related activities worked alongside playing Uncharted 4: A Thief's End:

Excavation Project

TRIP

As part of a course, Laura joined the Ardnamurchan Transitions Project, a long running investigation of the archaeology and history of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, Western Scotland.
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Virtual Inspiration For Real History

Both while I was studying and afterwards, I enjoyed playing the Assassin's Creed series. It has developed a more serious and more accurate approach to history and archaeology over each release. The games are, of course, fictionalised but the most recent releases also work hard to also be factual.

Playing the earlier games as I worked through my degree was fascinating. The subjects and areas I was studying were well represented in the adventure I was playing. It was also fun to recognise what was (and what wasn’t) accurately enriched the experience of playing the game.

Then, after I graduated from my degree, playing these games would remind me of a part of my course or Archaeological sites I'd visited. I enjoyed visiting ancient Egypt as part of Assassin's Creed Origins and it was cool to see African archaeology and history represented accurately. Then playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey, I would look up pictures from a trip I took to Greece with my brother. It was at the Knossos archaeological site where it was first believed the Minotaur's labyrinth was based.

Skill

Archeological Skills

TRANSFORMATION

Through her degree, work on sites and time in video games Laura gained a wide range of archaeological skills she could now apply to a variety of subjects.

Activities: Laura found that the following related activities worked alongside playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey:

Greece, Knossos, Archaeological Site

TRIP

After Laura graduated, she visited the Knossos archaeological site in Greece with her brother. Which reminded her of playing the game.
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