Minecraft: Lockdown lesson recreates an ancient island tomb by George Herd BBC News

Consider an archaeologist, bored schoolgirl living through coronavirus lockdown, and a common fascination with exploring ancient tombs.

The result? The video game Minecraft has recreated one of Wales most important Bronze Age sites.

It is the achievement of Dr. Ben Edwards, from Wrexham, and his daughter Bella 11.

They are sharing their models of Anglesey's Bryncelli Ddu with schools across the world.

The models can be loaded into the block-building universe of Minecraft and explored to find out more about the website and Neolithic life and art.

The burial mound dates back to around 5 000 years ago. Its called the "passage Tomb" is a perfect alignment with the sun at dawn on the summer solstice.

Recent excavations at the site, including some carried out by Dr. Edwards, Manchester Metropolitan University archaeologist, revealed that the burial chamber was designed as"henge" "henge".

It was similar to Stonehenge and consisted of a bank surrounding an internal ditch, encircling in a circle by upright stones.
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Dr Edwards utilized these digs with the work of researchers from the University of Central Lancashire, Wales the historical environment service Cadw to precisely recreate Bryn Celli Ddu for the video game.

It was then integrated into the educational version of Minecraft that is used around the globe to provide lessons in everything from chemistry to computer programming.

You can now add a bit of Welsh history to that list.

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"I knew Bella had access to the education version of Minecraft at school here, near Wrexham and I also had access to it at my university.

Dr. Edwards who worked on different computer models of Bryn Celli Ddu said that "So it was always in my head for some time..."

"It was never a major priority, but then you're locked down because it's the Easter holiday and you're home schooling.

"I just told Bella, 'Shall you have an attempt at this?'"

The game is famous for being able to build almost anything from graphic blocks, creating massive worlds and playgrounds.

While it may appear to be an unending game, Dr. Edwards was serious about his method used by Bryn Celli Ddu and used actual geographical mapping data to create the Minecraft landscapes.

It includes the actual tomb as it appeared in the Bronze Age and other burial pits or mounds discovered in recent times.

Rock art recovered from Bryn Celli Ddu is also depicted in the game alongside a model of what could have been a Neolithic home may have looked like in the vicinity.

According to Dr Edwards, the hardest thing to build was not the burial mounds but the house.

"It was planting the trees," he said.

Each one had to be individually "planted" and tended by Bella and her father, as part of the Minecraft world.

"Bella was required to teach me how to do a lot of things, as she was more reliant on it than me," Dr Edwards confessed.

She later ratified the final version and stated that it was "very real".

"And she is aware, as she used to come down to the excavations too," her father added.

Dr Ffion Reynolds, who is from Cadw Dr Ffion Reynolds, from Cadw specifically children like Bella who could benefit from playing with the Minecraft model.

Dr Reynolds stated, "We were looking at creative ways to give people a digital Experience of Bryn Celli Ddu" and he'd normally be in the summer months giving guided tours through the excavations to the local schools.

"This was a means to keep our relationship with these schools, while also providing them with an opportunity to visit the site digitally."

Coronavirus restrictions mean that Cadw's sites across Wales are closed to the public, including Bryn Celli Ddu.

It also meant that, for the first time in a long time that those who celebrate the solstice weren't able to gather at the burial ground to witness the dawn phenomenon there.

"However, it did allow us access to a special camera crew, and we've been able capture the sunrise with 360-degree filming," Dr. Reynolds said.

She stated that Cadw hopes to make the video accessible in the near future and open the site again to the public.

Meanwhile, those with access to Minecraft at home or in school can now play the site digitally - in complete safety.

The Bryn Celli Ddu Minecraft world is free to download for the Minecraft Education version from Hwb the Welsh Government's resource for teachers as well as from the Manchester Centre for Public History and Heritage.

And for those looking for a more serious experience, Dr Andrews and his team have developed an app that is augmented for Apple devices, which will guide users around the actual site once it is reopened.

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