Write in details , Importance of different sources in re - constructing history .
Answers
Answer:
Ancient History Encyclopedia
Sources of History
Emma Groeneveldby Emma Groeneveld
published on 19 April 2017
History (from the Greek ἱστορία, meaning ‘a learning or knowing by inquiry’) can be broadly taken to indicate the past in general but is usually defined as the study of the past from the point at which there were written sources onwards.
There are obstacles that make it so we do not have a crystal clear, uninterrupted view of the past. Firstly, we have to remember that everyone – not just us, but also people throughout history – is shaped by their upbringing and the societies and times they live in, and we need to be careful not to stick our own labels and values onto past periods. Secondly, our view of the past is made up from the total of things that somehow happened to survive the test of time, which is due to coincidences and decisions made by people before our time. So, we only get a fragmentary, distorted view; it is like trying to complete a puzzle with a lot of oddly shaped and missing pieces.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Art of War by Sun-Tzu
The Art of War by Sun-Tzu
To fill in the context of the past we wish to study involves carefully questioning a whole bunch of sources – not just written ones – and avoiding pitfalls as much as possible. The closely connected field of archaeology offers a priceless helping hand in achieving this, so these sources will be discussed here, too.
UNRAVELLING THE SOURCES
WE ONLY GET A FRAGMENTARY, DISTORTED VIEW; IT IS LIKE TRYING TO COMPLETE A PUZZLE WITH A LOT OF ODDLY SHAPED & MISSING PIECES.
Sources are our way of peering into the past, but the various kinds all present their own benefits and difficulties. The first distinction to make is between primary and secondary sources. A primary source is first-hand material that stems (roughly) from the time period that one wants to examine, whereas a secondary source is an additional step removed from that period – a 'second-hand' work that is the result of reconstructing and interpreting the past using the primary material, such as textbooks, articles, and, of course, websites such as this one.
PRIMARY SOURCES
However cool actual sources from times gone by may be, we cannot simply assume that everything they tell us (or everything we think they tell us) is true, or that we are automatically able to interpret their contents and context correctly. They were made by people, from within their own contexts. Keeping a critical eye and asking questions is thus the way to go, and it is a good idea to cross-examine different sources on the same topic to see whether any kind of consensus rolls out.
ADVERTISEMENT
Some general questions you should ask of any type of source are:
appears to be true.
ADVERTISEMENT
Herodotus
Pitfalls – transmission; reliability, bias & intentions; contemporaneity
Korean Buncheong Bottle
Bones
Benefits – morphology; health & related clues; filling in blanks; genetic evidence
Studying bones yields clues regarding health, gender, age, size, diet, etc. Retrieval of ancient DNA – though not exactly a walk in the park – is also possible. The context in which bones are found as well as the point in time they came from help to fill information regarding their societies. This is already valuable in support of historical sources, as, for instance, mass graves of victims of the black death support the image created by the written record, but for the prehistoric side of things, bones are truly indispensable in helping us fill in the blanks.