Food and Drink
This was the free handout of grain or bread given to poor citizens in Ancient Rome to keep them happy.
What is the dole?
This is the word used when a historical source is unfairly one-sided or heavily leans toward a certain point of view.
What is bias?
This Renaissance technique uses shading to create a smoky, realistic look, famously used on the Mona Lisa.
What is sfumato?
This is an object made by humans in the past, such as a coin or a sword, which archaeologists look for.
What is an artefact?
This was the traditional system of law used by the Gaelic Irish before English law was forced upon them.
What is Brehon Law?
This crop was brought back from the Americas to Europe after the Age of Exploration, completely changing European diets.
What is the potato? / What is maize/corn?
This is information or art deliberately spread to make people believe a specific political idea or message.
What is propaganda?
This is a painting done quickly in watercolours on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling.
What is a fresco?
This dating method measures how much radioactive gas is left in ancient organic materials like bones or wood.
What is radiocarbon dating?
This famous document, signed on 4th July 1776, stated that the thirteen colonies were breaking away from Britain.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
This was a Roman fast-food counter or snack shop where people could buy hot food on the street.
What is a thermopolium?
This was the corrupt practice where people could buy forgiveness for their sins from the Catholic Church.
What are indulgences?
This is a type of early paint made by mixing pigment with egg yolk before oil paints became popular.
What is egg-tempera?
These dark, circular stains in the soil show archaeologists where wooden pillars once stood to hold up ancient houses.
(What are post holes?
This 1494 agreement, signed by the Pope, drew a line down the map to split the newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal.
What is the Treaty of Tordesillas?
This is the main meal of the day for a Roman patrician, often featuring multiple luxurious courses.
What is a cena?
This was the unfair practice in the medieval Church where bishops or priests held more than one church job at the same time.
What is pluralism?
This artistic technique uses lines that meet at a central point to make flat paintings look three-dimensional.
What is perspective?
This archaeological method dates objects based on the layer of soil they are buried in, with older items usually deeper down.
What is stratigraphy?
This strict rule in medieval towns forced everyone to put out their fires and candles when the church bells rang at night.
What is a curfew?
This was a medieval field left empty and unplanted for a year to let the soil recover its nutrients.
What is a fallow field?
This is the term for a re-evaluation of history when new evidence causes historians to change their minds about the past.
What is a reinterpretation?
This intricate style of decorative metalwork, using fine twisted gold wire, was used to decorate early Christian chalices.
What is filigree?
This is a modern, non-destructive method where archaeologists use radar or electrical currents to see what is under the soil before digging.
What is a geophysical survey?
This was the set of laws passed by Britain that forced American colonists to use British ships for all their trade.
What were the Navigation Acts?