Requirement
4. Five sites, inside AND outside the United States
Required Often forgotten
One line of text and the largest piece of work on the badge. The word "both" is load bearing: five American sites is not an answer and neither is five foreign ones. Choose them so their ages differ, because 4(a) ends by asking you to compare the relative ages of all five.
Notes and warnings
Warning. THE BIGGEST PIECE OF WORK ON THIS BADGE IS ONE LINE OF TEXT. Five sites, and the word BOTH means they cannot all be American and cannot all be foreign. What "learn about" costs is set out in 4(a): for EACH of the five you must point it out on a map, explain how it became known to archaeologists, describe what has been found there, explain how that answers questions archaeologists are asking, and explain why it may matter to modern people. Five sites and five questions is twenty five answers before you start on the comparison. CHOOSE THE FIVE WITH THAT COMPARISON IN MIND. 4(a) ends by asking you to compare the relative ages of the sites you research, so five sites of roughly the same age make a dull answer and a hard requirement, while five spread from the deep past to a few centuries ago make it write itself.
What this is made of
Where this step comes from
- Archaeology Merit Badge Requirements (Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2025-12-31), Requirement 4 · The requirement asks for a combined total of five sites located both within and outside the United States.