Chapter 1 : Finding out about the past Flashcards
Secondary sources
Provides second hand evidence, written by somebody who wasn’t there
Historians
People who study and write about the past
Biased
One-sided
Autobiography
Life story that someone wrote about themselves
Propaganda
Promoting ideas of a particular occasion
Objective
Look at the story from different points of view
Memoirs
An account of personal experiences
Where are artefacts and written facts stored
Museums and archives
Archaeology
The study of what people have left behind
Pre-history
The earliest period of history before written records were kept
Archaeologists
Those who seek and study ancient artefacts
Artefacts
Man made objects
Stratigraphy
The study of the artefacts under the soil
Crop marks
Ancient remains such as ditches, walls and ancient buildings. Seen with aerial photography
Geophysical surveys
Uses metal detectors to pick up objects or features under ground
Field walking
Walking over the site and looking for tiny objects that may be of interest
Local knowledge
Old maps, oral evidence or nearby finds will lead an archaeologist to a particular area
Salvage archaeology
When archaeologists have to quickly search land before pipe laying
The dig
Archaeologists seal off area to make sure no artefacts are stolen and to ensure no damage to the site. Site is then prepared for dig, slow and painstaking job, have to be careful not to break or miss any artefacts. First topsoil is removed,site grid is drawn each square given a number and letter any artefacts location is marked clearly on the grid
Tools
Trowel, sieve, brush, toothbrush, photographic scale, label, polythene bag
Carbon-14 dating
Every living thing contains it, a chemical, when it dies it decreases, accurate up to 50,000 years
Dendrochronology
Study of tree rings, every ring represents a year, thick ring means warm and wet weather, thin means drought
Primary source
Source made or written at the time the event took place
