Augustin’s archaeologist friends, Alex and Lisa, appear for the first time in a science short story entitled “Archaeologists without borders”. A short story that will delight young and old alike while helping them discover how archaeology is a lever for bringing people together and teaching tolerance..

In The Daily Star’s Outlook Magazine, PACE Director, Adel Yahya, reports on the work of Palestinian volunteers in preserving cultural heritage related to biblical history © The Daily Star’s Outlook Magazine, 2004

Archaeologists without borders
a short story on
tolerance and the applications of archaeology

Presentation of the short story

Summary of the story

Following a scientific meeting in Sweden, Norwegian archaeologist Ghattas Jeries Sayej, who is also part of the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange, contacts Alex and Lisa to invite them to participate in a very special mission. Despite the ongoing armed conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange needs people to lead a mission to study the site of Al-Jib, the biblical Gibeon, a city of ancient Israel, located north of Jerusalem, in the occupied territories. The mission does not end there. The archaeologists also have to make the population aware of their heritage so that they no longer use the remains as garbage cans. A wonderful opportunity for Alex and Lisa to put into practice their theory on the role of archaeologists in daily life. How will the arrival of these western foreigners in the middle of a sensitive territory be perceived?

Download the short story in pdf under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license

Keywords

literature, fiction, science short story, archaeology, tolerance, politics, respect, cultural heritage, tourism, economy

To cite the short story

Jean-Olivier Gransard-Desmond, « Archéologues sans frontières », dans : Collectif Les Auteurs Masqués, Histoires de Tolérance, Publication indépendante, septembre 2020, p. 243‑251.

A teaching sequence with the short story

This sequence is adapted for Primary School (2^nd grade to 5^th grade) and Middle School classes of any size knowing that it is about realizing groups of 5 students with a text and other students for figuration. The sequencing proposal focuses on Language, Arts, History and more as it is require into educational initiative entitled the Common Base of Knowledge, Skills and Culture in France as well as into the Common Core State Standards Initiative in US for a reading aloud project in a group involving teachers of national language, History/Geography and Physical and sports education.

• In national language, this project will mobilize the skills of understanding a text, reading aloud and memorization.
• In History/Geography, this project will mobilize the knowledge and skills of understanding human societies in time and space with their contemporary consequences.
• In Physical and sports education, this project will mobilize the skills of teamwork, task sharing and physical expression for the production of an artistic work such as a play.
• In Moral and civic education, this project will mobilize knowledge and skills that will allow students to understand the importance of respect and to act daily against hatred through the duty of remembrance as a lever for bringing people together.

This project can be presented to families in the form of a play, which you can organize using the example provided in the resource Reading, a child’s play.

Download the sequence in pdf under a CC BY-SA 4.0 licence

To learn more

• the other resources in Augustin’s World, see the corner for budding archaeologists.
• the world of Augustin, see the official website of Christiane Angibous-Esnault, creator of the Augustin character (in french only)
• the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (PACE), see the English official website www.pace.ps
• the Israeli-Palestinian Archaeology Working Group (IPAWG), USC-UCLA Israeli-Palestinian Archaeology Working Group
• the origins of the fiction based on real facts related by Ghattas Jeries Sayej, see his article “Can archaeologists intervene in public debate on urgent questions of a social, cultural or political nature? A reflection on the Israeli–Palestinian Archaeology Working Group (IPAWG)”, Archaeological Dialogues 20/1, june 2013, p. 47-58 [OnLine] https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203813000093

The pdf file of the short story is available under a licence Creative Commons Attribution – No commercial use – No derivative work 4.0 International – CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license
You are therefore authorized to Share (copy, distribute and communicate the material) by quoting the author Jean-Olivier Gransard-Desmond for any use that is not commercial. Commercial use as well as adaptation of the story require a written authorization from the author. You can send us a request that we will transmit to the author by writing via our form.

The pdf file of the sequence is available under a licence Creative Commons Attribution – Sharing under the same conditions International – CC BY-SA 4.0
You are therefore authorized to Share (copy, distribute and communicate the material) as well as to adapt (remix, transform and create) the content of the document for any use, including commercial use, under condition: 1) that you quote the author Jean-Olivier Gransard-Desmond and 2) that you share your adaptation under the same conditions as this license.

The rest of the works (photographs) presented in the article are accessible under the same license for educational purposes. They cannot be used for commercial purposes and cannot be modified or transformed to be shared in any form. For any commercial use or transformation, please contact the association ArkeoTopia by writing via our form.