ancient history

Question 1

Archeology

Answer 1

studies human past by examining physical objects or ARTEFACTS that have been left behind. An artefact is defined as an object produced or shaped by human craft.

Question 2

Source

Answer 2

A SOURCE is anything that has survived from the past. It may be WRITTEN or ARCHAEOLOGICAL. It is the raw material that the historian uses to ask questions of the past.

Question 3

Ancient source

Answer 3

An ANCIENT source comes from the same time as the person or event being studied.

Question 4

Modern source

Answer 4

A MODERN source is something written about or copied from the past by people living in another time.

Question 5

Physical Source

Answer 5

buildings, monuments, artefacts, organic remains

Question 6

Written Source

Answer 6

Literary, epigraphic or numismatic

Question 7

Literary

Answer 7

writings of people in the ancient world, such as historians, biographers, playwrights, orators etc. May also be lists of transactions, law codes, king lists.

Question 8

Epigraphic

Answer 8

inscribed on clay, metal, stone or papyrus and may include graffiti.

Question 9

Numismatic

Answer 9

provided by coins that show images of key figures, religious symbols, legends, special events and sometimes, a date.

Question 10

Historiographic

Answer 10

books and articles produced by historians.

Question 11

Provenance

Answer 11

Provenance is the documented history or the record of ownership of an artefact.

Question 12

Relic

Answer 12

An authentic, original artefact that has survived in whole or in part from a time in the ancient past. It was made or altered by ancient humans in the context of their daily lives

Question 13

Fake

Answer 13

An object that has been altered deliberately to deceive others into believing it to be an original and therefore valuable. Often fakes have been elaborately aged to make it difficult to detect them from the original

Question 14

Replica

Answer 14

A reproduction of the original artefact that has been made for open and honest purposes, labelled as a reproduction, replica or duplicate at all times.
Replicas can be displayed, used for teaching purposes and handled by the public

Question 15

Forgery

Answer 15

An entirely new work made to imitate an original

Question 16

Radiocarbon

Answer 16

Radiocarbon dating, also known as carbon-14 dating, dates organic material between 50 000 and 400 years old. It works on the principle that all living things interact constantly with the atmosphere, absorbing carbon-14, which is a radioactive isotope of carbon.

Question 17

Typology

Answer 17

The principle of organising finds in a chronological sequence is the basis of this technique. Groups or types of artefacts such as pottery, tools or weapons.

Question 18

Three age system

Answer 18

This technique is proven as one of the most useful systems for organising finds in sequential order.

Question 19

Stratigraphic

Answer 19

Relies on the relationship between the successive strata or layers of a dig, with the oldest material being in the lowest strata. As a dig progresses, each stratum is revealed, recording of artifacts is carried out.

Question 20

Authentication

Answer 20

Assess the accuracy and usefulness of what they write by considering the purpose for the which they are writing ( social, political and historical contexts)