Africa Component: Children Workshop

Similar activities were carried out in Algeria by Dr. Razika Chelli Cheheb (CNRPAH, Algeria), entitled "kid sapiens archaeologist” with a group of 15 children from Les Glycines primary school. The workshop was focussed mainly on the human evolution of the different stone tools made by different species. The students then participated in a demonstration dig, which allowed them to gain experience and perspective on archaeological excavation by collecting lithic and faunal remains, documenting them on-site, and conserving them for laboratory examination. These children had undergone a beautiful experimental demonstration made by Dr Chelli Cheheb and Dr Arezki Bourai, on processes of the manufacturing of a handaxe. The children in this part learned the choice of the raw material, the hammerstone, etc. and how to make replicas of stone tools which will serve us as methods to understand the technical behavior of prehistoric man. Further, they dedicated the time to rock art where they discussed about prehistoric art (painting, engravings, ornament, etc.), frankly, these were expressive moments for these young children. On another day, a school visit to the Tighennif hominid site (Acheulian site ∼ 1 Million years ago) was organized by R. Chelli Cheheb in collaboration with the entire research project team on this site (directed by Prof. M. Sahnouni) with a group of 25 primary school children, who went to the site with their teacher, to live the real moments of an archaeological excavation in situ. Finally, these children recognized that the earliest technology of man was the making of stone tools.