Chapter 1-The Work Of Historians And Archeologists

Question 1

What is archeology

Answer 1

Archeology is the study of our ancestors

Question 2

What is history

Answer 2

History is the study of the past and past human events

Question 3

What is the difference between prehistory and history

Answer 3

The prehistoric period is before writing was used ex.the Stone

Age the historic period is after writing was used ex.we know about the monks in the early Christian Ireland because they wrote books

Question 4

What is a source

Answer 4

Evidence,that historians use to build up a picture of the past ex.documents,emails,speeches

Question 5

What are oral sources

Answer 5

Oral sources are also called interviews

Question 6

What is a primary source

Answer 6

A primary source is a source that came directly from the past

Question 7

What is a secondary source

Answer 7

A secondary source is a source that came from a later date than the event

Question 8

Before books and documents were made what were they called

Answer 8

They were called manuscripts

Question 9

How do historians use sources

Answer 9

First they look or read the sources very closely
They the find out when,why,whom
They use the time and rule method 
Then they judge if it can be trusted
They also cross check there sourced

Question 10

How do historians know if they can trust sources

Answer 10

They check its reliability by checking if it is:bias,it’s accuracy,exaggeration,president properganda,time and place and opinions

Question 11

How do they put events in order

Answer 11

They do this by measuring time ex.days,hours,months or ad,bc or centuries,millennium and they also used timelines

Question 12

What is archeology

Answer 12

Archeology is the study of what has been left behind by our ancestors

Question 13

What is a artifact

Answer 13

Objects made by humans eg.coins,pottery,tools

Question 14

How do objects end up in the ground

Answer 14

They are lost
Sometimes they are dug up for safe keeping
Overtime abandoned buildings get covered in soil over time

Question 15

How well are objects preserved in the ground

Answer 15

In most cases bodies layer in the ground decay but other times objects in very hot or cold conditions are sometimes well preserved

Question 16

How are sites chosen

Answer 16

Research archeology-some sites are chosen because they have reason to believe that there is something underneath
Rescue archeology-archeologists normally excavate a site before a road are building are built
Some are by accident

Question 17

How do archaeologists excavate a site

Answer 17

1.preparation-a survey is carried out(geophysical survey),dig test trenches,Arial photographs.a detailed plan is made
2.the dig-layers of earth are dug away using a trowel
A hand pick is used to loosen the soil
They use brushes or toothbrushes to make sure that they don’t damage it
They put the soil through the sieve if the object is very small so nothing is missed
Once it had been uncovered they take a photograph

Of nothing is found they look ate the soil-square patched suggest fireplace
A layer of dark soil suggests that the soil was destroyed by a fire
Wooden poles leave dark round patches called post holes

Question 18

What does excavate mean

Answer 18

When archaeologists dig in the ground to look for the remains of the past

Question 19

Define survey

Answer 19

A study carried out on a site before it is dug up

Question 20

What is a hoard

Answer 20

It is when a group of gold and silver is found together

Question 21

Name three ways of dating objects

Answer 21

Stratigraphy,carbon dating,dendrochronology

Question 22

What is carbon dating

Answer 22

Carbon or radioactive dating is a scientific way of dating an object that was once alive

Question 23

Define stratigraphy

Answer 23

It is a way of telling the age of an object by its depth in the soil

Question 24

Define dendrochronology

Answer 24

It is to date wooden objects such as parts of houses and ships.it is done by counting the amount of rings it had

Question 25

What can archeologists learn from a skeleton

Answer 25

Was it a man or a women,skull or pelvis
The height estimated by the length of the thigh eg.femur bone
The age at death can tell age of death
There may be evidence of a wound that can help decide cause of death
If there was goods such as pottery with the body then they probably weren’t a Christian
If the skull is well preserved it may be possible to reconstruct face
Scientific analysis of the bones can tell archeologists what type of fashion they had