CHAPTER 3: Learning About the Past
Lesson 1: UNDERSTANDING HISTORY
MAIN IDEA: WHY DO WE STUDY HISTORY?...TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED, HOW
IT HAPPENED AND WHY IT HAPPENED.
OBJECTIVES:
-1. Explain how historians learn about the past.
-2. Apply Historians questions to evidence.
-3. Compare Primary and Secondary sources.
Types of Sources
-1. Written Sources: Anything written down is a written source; Books, Letters, Diaries,
Songs, Poems, Marks on Ancient Tombs, Maps, Calendars.
A. HISTORIANS: Use these to learn about people and events of the past.
-2. NON-WRITTEN SOURCES Anything that is not writing; Fossils, Artifacts, Tombs, Ruins,
Monuments.
A. ORAL TRADITION: Legends, Myths, and Beliefs of a culture past on from
generation to generation by WORD OF MOUTH.
The Evaluation of Sources
***Historians ask questions about a source to determine how accurate and useful it is***
The main questions they ask are:
-1. WHO produced the source: can help to know the person’s background to understand
how it can effect their account of an event.
-2. What kind of source is it; a letter, a map, a diary, a political cartoon.
-3. When was the source produced; is it a:
A. PRIMARY SOURCE; A source written in the same time period as the event.
B. SECONDARY SOURCE; sources created later by people that studied the original
event.
-4. Where: was it an eyewitness account by someone who was there OR HEAR SAY
(second hand information).
-5. Why: was it written as an exact account or to prove a point, impress someone, make
someone look bad.
Lesson 2: EXAMINING SOURCES
MAIN IDEA: Archaeologists use various methods to learn about the artifacts, bones, ruins
and fossils they uncover from the past.
OBJECTIVES:
-1. Identify contributions of other fields of study to history.
-2. Describe how the archaeological record is formed.
-3. Choose appropriate dating methods for evidence.
-4. Explain how archaeologists investigate ancient cultures.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD: The artifacts, ruins, bones and fossils archaeologists find and
study.
-1. Archaeologists study the Archaeological record to learn how people lived, what
they ate, what diseases they had and how people died in the past.
EXCAVATION: When ruins or artifacts have been buried or covered by the forces of nature
for many years Archaeologists must EXCAVATE a site to find any remains.
HOW: Archaeologist find a site and divide it into squares with GRIDS.
Then they carefully dig in each square and record the exact
location of everything they find.
Dating the Information:
Archaeologist must DATE ARTIFACTS or determine their age, they use two (2) methods.
Cultural Dating: Archaeologist sometimes need to gather information to figure out
how old something is; like coins or pottery. They compare objects
they find with information they already know.
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF CULTURAL DATING:
-1. ABSOLUTE DATING: When you find the EXACT age of an object in years.
-2. RELATIVE DATING: Finding the Age of something RELATIVE to objects we
know the age of.
SCIENTIFIC DATING: There are different types of Scientific dating and it is done in a
Laboratory in our time.
-1. DENDROCHRONOLOGY: Counting tree Rings; The oldest form of Scientific Dating.
-2. RADIOCARBON DATING: Can only be used on ONCE LIVING things like wood and
bones…it only works on things between 1,000 years
and 60,000 years old.
-3. POTASSIUM ARGON DATING: Can date items as old as 500,000 years found stuck
in volcanic rock.
INTERPRETING the EVIDENCE: Archaeologist and scientist interpret evidence in light of
their own experiences or what they know about and
believe. Historians and Archaeologists will disagree as
they reexamine evidence and new information is found.
Lesson 3: EXAMINING ARCHAEOLOGY
MAIN IDEA: The goals of Archaeologists have changed over time from looking for RICHES
to LEARNING ABOUT the PAST.
OBJECTIVES:
-1. Compare and Contrast goals of Classic and Modern Archaeology.
-2. Describe the economic motivation behind the goals of Archaeology.
-3. Interpret Archaeological evidence.
CLASSIC ARCHAEOLOGY: In the past the FIRST goals of Classic Archaeology was to find
spectacular artifacts from the past.
EXAMPLE: KING TUTANKAMEN; King TUT’s tomb is an example of Classic Archaeology. It
was found in 1922 by HOWARD CARTER who was
looking for Riches and Spectacular things.
The NEW ARCHAEOLOGY: Today most Archaeologists search for things to help them
understand the lives of all people, RICH or POOR. Today
Archaeologists study everything they can find even Rubbish
called: KITCHEN MIDDEN; the artifacts, bones and other items
people throw away.
EXAMPLE: KOSTER, ILLINOIS; An Archaeological dig that uncovered 15 settlements built
around 6,500 years ago. Now we know what life was like
for the early people of North America.
Lesson 4: INTERPRETING SOURCES
MAIN IDEA: Historical sources can change the way we interpret the past. New information
is always being discovered through new sources.
OBJECTIVES:
-1. Analyze the effect of new evidence and techniques on Archaeological assumptions.
-2. Give examples of Cultural Diffusion and Independent Invention.
CULTURAL DIFFUSION: Whenever different Cultures come into contact with each other
they EXCHANGE GOODS AND IDEAS, this CULTURAL DIFFUSION.
EXAMPLE: We have written records of trade between; Rome, China, India, Mesopotamia,
Greece and Egypt and they all exchanged goods and ideas that spread around
the world.
***Some Archaeologists do not totally agree with Cultural Diffusion and feel similar ideas
developed through Independent Invention***
INDEPENDENT INVENTION: When a Culture comes up with a similar idea or development
on their own it is INDEPENDENT INVENTION. This happens
when a Culture solves its own problems or issues with no
outside help.
EXAMPLE: STONEHENGE; In the 1920s Archaeologists believed the people who built
STONEHENGE must have had help from the Ancient Egyptians
who built the Great Pyramids because of the huge stones they
used.
By the 1960s, using radiocarbon dating of items found in the
Great Pyramids showed they were built thousands of years
after STONEHENGE showing that STONEHENGE was built
through INDEPENDENT INVENTION.