Year 3 The Shang: What have archaeologists found out about them? worksheet

“Fu Hao's hidden tomb” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 3 history unit “The Shang: What have archaeologists found out about them?”, for children aged 7 to 8, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 25 to 30 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Fu Hao's hidden tomb

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 3 · History · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain what the objects in a tomb tell us about the person buried there.

A Look back3 min

1.
Circle the age that came between the Stone Age and the Iron Age.
Bronze AgeIron AgeStone Age
2.
Fu Hao lived in China long ago. Which people ruled China at that time?
3.
Anyang, where Fu Hao's tomb was found, is near the top of a map of China. Write the compass letter for that direction.

B Watch me, then you4 min

Fu Hao was buried long ago. Her tomb was found much later. Which happened first?

Watch me

Fu Hao was buried about 1200 BC.

The tomb was found in 1976 AD.

1976 AD comes after 1200 BC, so the find came much later.

Now you

1.
Put these in order, earliest first. Write 1, 2 and 3 in the boxes.
1. Tomb found in 1976 AD
2. Shang rule began about 1600 BC
3. Fu Hao buried about 1200 BC
2.
Circle the earlier date: 1600 BC or 1200 BC.
1600 BC1200 BC

C Your turn6 min

Read each clue. Circle what it tells us about Fu Hao.

An underground tomb room with bronze axe heads, jade carvings and bronze pots on wooden shelves

1.
Fu Hao's tomb had more than 100 bronze weapons, such as axes. What does this tell us?
She was a warrior.She liked the sea.She was poor.
2.
Fu Hao's tomb had about 750 jade objects. What does this tell us?
She was wealthy.She could not read.She was a farmer.
3.
The tomb held bronze pots for food and drink for the gods. What does this tell us?
Religion mattered to her people.She was a fisher.She had no family.
4.
Fu Hao's tomb held nearly 7,000 cowrie shells. Cowrie shells were used like money in Shang China. What does this tell us?
She was very rich.She was very young.She was a dancer.

Say it out loud: Which word in each question was the clue? What did the clue tell you about Fu Hao?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Old writings carved on bones tell us that Fu Hao led thousands of soldiers into battle.

A row of bronze axe heads on a wooden table

Kit says: “Fu Hao could not have been a general, because ancient generals were always men.”

1.
Write one reason Kit is wrong.

E Think deeper3 min

A tomb chamber seen from above with objects laid out in rows

1.
Archaeologists found objects in a tomb thousands of years old. Explain how two of them help us learn about Fu Hao.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Fu Hao's hidden tomb · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. Bronze Age

2. Look for: The Shang, or the Shang kings.

3. Look for: The letter N, for north, on the compass.

B

1. 1 Shang rule began about 1600 BC · 2 Fu Hao buried about 1200 BC · 3 Tomb found in 1976 AD your child may have put the newest date first. Ask: which date has the bigger number of BC years? Earlier BC dates come first.

2. 1600 BC your child may have picked the smaller number. With BC, the bigger number is further back in time, so 1600 BC is earlier.

C

1. She was a warrior.

2. She was wealthy.

3. Religion mattered to her people.

4. She was very rich.

D

1. Look for: Fu Hao led soldiers in battle and records show she was a general, so women could be generals. If your child only repeats that generals were men, ask: what do the records say about Fu Hao? She led soldiers in many battles.

E

1. Look for: Two objects linked to a clear idea about Fu Hao, such as jade for wealth and bronze weapons for being a warrior.

Words to use

Say“Which object was in the tomb? What does it tell us about the person who was buried there?”

Instead of“Just tell them the answer, or say that it is too old to know anything.”

After the sheet

Pick three objects from around the house, such as a spoon, a mug and a shoe. Ask what each one tells us about the person who owns it, then swap roles.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Who Were the Shang?(with a plan)
Bronze dings tell stories(with a plan)
Jade Artefacts of the Shang(with a plan)
Oracle Bones and Writing(with a plan)
Digging up the Shang(with a plan)

Every Year 3 history worksheet

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