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| | | THE MATERIAL WORLD
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| | | Quentin Cooper reports on developments across the sciences. Each week scientists describe their work, conveying the excitement they feel for their research projects.
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|  | PRESENTER | | | |
|  | | | | "For me science isn't a subject, it's a perspective. There are fascinating scientific aspects to everything from ancient history to the latest gadgets, outer space to interior decorating; and each week on The Material World we try to reflect the excitement, ideas, uncertainties, collisions and collaborations as science continues its never-ending voyage into the unknown".
Quentin Cooper | | | |
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|  | | | A bulb of garlic from the Roman era |
Ancient Food
What did people eat at parties in the iron age? It is rare to find whole preserved items such as loaves of bread or bulbs of garlic. Archaelologists must sieve ancient rubbish tips for burnt grains and analyse old bones to work out what ancient peoples used to eat.
Archaeo-botanist Professor Marijke van der Veen thinks that the cultural context of how food is consumed is important. Understanding which luxury foods the ancient Egyptians or Iron Age Britons had access - and how they served them - helps us better understand their societies.
Archaeo-zoologist Dr Paul Halstead is interested in what bone remains show about how meat was butchered and stored, and how we can use pots, paintings and written sources to help interpret archaeological findings.
Pax Warrior
This week we also look at one of the latest in a line of educational computer games that claim to be good for you. 'Pax Warrior' takes the backdrop of the 1994 Rwandan genocide to explore complex moral and ethical issues.
The game's designer, Andreas Ua'Siaghail, tells Material World what he thinks children will learn by taking the part of a UN peacekeeper in Rwanda. Quentin is also joined by Dominic Savage, the Director General of the British Educational Supplies Association, who explains how games are gradually finding their place in schools.
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RELATED LINKS
Marijke van der Veen
Paul Halstead
Pax Warrior
British Educational Suppliers Association
BBC Radio 4 Science Programmes
BBC Science & Nature
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