Finding Out About The Past Flashcards
What do historians mean by prehistory?
A time before written records where kept
What is a historian?
Someone who finds out about the past
What is a secondary source?
Give an example
After a historian has studied the primary sources the books or articles he wrote
What is a primary source?
First hand information
Pictures
Diaries
Letters
What happens when an archaeologist finds a place to dig?
As soon as archaeologists believe that have found a place worth investigating it becomes an archaeological site. The site is carefully fenced of. The area is then divided. After this the excavation or dig begins
What do archaeologists do during the excavation?
The archaeologists slowly begin digging in to each square, level by level using small tools such as trowels and small brushes. Finds such as pieces of pottery, tools or weapons are called artefacts.
What do archaeologists do when they find anything of interest?
Anything of interest found on a dig is carefully labelled and recorded on a site map they also record how far down an object is found?
What happens at the end of a dig?
At the end of a successful dig thousands of objects or fragments may have been found even ancient rubbish heaps can prove useful for an archaeologist.
What do archaeologists do when they have finished excavating a site?
Once archaeologists have finished excavating a site they must determine the age of there finds. One such method is called carbon dating
What is carbon dating?
All living creatures and plants contain carbon 14. When these creatures and plants die the carbon 14 steadily decays by measuring how rapidly something’s carbon 14 is decaying you can tell how old it is.
What is stratigraphy?
Another method of determining the age of a find is stratigraphy. Archaeologists take note of how deep the find is and the deeper it Is the older it is. If anything of known date is found at the same level such as a coin or a stamp all the other items at that depth are most likely from the same period.
