An archaeologist and his daughter recreated a famous Wales Bronze Age site in Minecraft: Education Edition

Minecraft Education Edition
Minecraft Education Edition (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Minecraft: Education Edition is a specialized version of the game catered towards schools and other organizations.
  • It features unique mechanics and tools that educators can use to help children learn about all manner of topics.
  • A new map that recreates an ancient Bronze Age burial site in Wales has been added by an archaeologist and his daughter.
  • The area was faithfully built inside of Minecraft by the pair, and can now be downloaded and used by educators all over the world.

Dr Ben Edwards, and archaeologist hailing from Wales, paired up with his 11-year old daughter Bella to recreate an ancient burial site from the Bronze Age inside of Minecraft. Bryn Celli Ddu, a burial site dated at over 5,000 years old, has been closed to the public recently because of concerns involving the COVID-19 pandemic. To compensate for this, and their newfound isolation at home, Dr Edwards and his daughter worked together to build the site in Minecraft, including factual information and painstakingly planted trees.

It's a commemorable accomplishment by itself, since accuracy was their focus in the project, but even more noteworthy is how Dr Edwards has since made the map available for download and use by educators all over the globe using Minecraft: Education Edition. This means children and students can now explore and learn about this burial site through Minecraft, even while learning remotely at home. This is a great example of how powerful Minecraft: Education Edition can be, even when everyone is stuck at home.

If you're interested, you can check out the full report from BBC, or download the map from the Manchester Centre for Public History & Heritage.

Xbox

Main

Zachary Boddy
Staff Writer

Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter @BoddyZachary.