CSI Oak Park:
Is The Lost Society A Civilization?
Have you ever wondered how historians find out what happened in ancient civilizations?
For most societies historians are able to use written documents to tell us what happened thousands
of years ago. However there are some societies that had no written language or whose written
language we cannot decipher. In such cases historians can only use the physical and archaeological
remains of such societies. Historians must read the evidence much the way a detective reads clues
and try to form theories about what that society was like.
Imagine you and your group of partners are archaeologists. The phone rings at 3 AM. A
colleague calls with startling news. Archaeologists have found a previously unknown society
buried under thousands of years of dust and dirt! You are called in to investigate this lost society.
Start by carefully examining the pictures, and then work with your group to answer this question:
Is the Lost Society a civilization?
Here is a definition of civilization, borrowed from Wikipedia and then altered by me.
"A civilized society is often characterized by advanced agriculture and urbanism. Aside from these core
elements, civilization is often marked by any combination of a number of secondary elements, including a
developed transportation system, writing, standards of measurement (currency, etc.), complex legal
systems, monumental architecture, mathematics, and sophisticated metallurgy."
On the next page, using the clues from the pictures, decide which elements of civilization the Lost
Society possessed:
Elements of Civilization Identified in the Lost Society
Feature of Civilization
Advanced Agriculture
Urbanism (city life)
Developed Transportation system
Writing
When explaining why you believe the
Lost Society had these features of
civilization give the slide number and
write down specific evidence from
particular slides.
Standardized Weights and Measures
Complex Legal System
Mathematics
Monumental Architecture