RANGE OF SOURCE INCL. LIMITATIONS

Question 1

RANGE OF SOURCES:

Answer 1

A great variety of written & archeological sources have been uncovered which provide evidence about many aspects of life in P & H
Sources include: accounts of ancient writers, official inscriptions, commercial documents etc

Question 2

LIMITATION OF SOURCES:

Answer 2

• Clear evidence to explain some aspects of life in P & H (eg various artefacts relating to the production of wine and olive oil provide reliable evidence of the process used in those industries)
• However, there are considerable gaps in the evidence relating to other aspects of life (eg lack of sources about personal lives of individuals, use of public spaces and other social activities)
• Some gaps in the evidence about the nature of he society (we know very little about the women of the lower classes - they had few possessions and left no written records and were not written about by others)
• Other limitations ar due to the eruption (what has been destroyed, preserved etc)
• Other gaps due to looting of the site & poor site management
• In the past, gaps in evidence encouraged speculation, more recent studies are based on mere academic, critical and a multidisciplinary approach