Key Terms
What is history?
The study of the past.
What is a source?
Something that gives information about the past.
What is archaeology?
The study of the past through physical remains.
What does evidence mean?
Information used to support an idea or answer.
Name one ancient civilisation.
Egypt, Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, China, India.
What is an artefact?
An object made or used by people in the past.
What is a primary source?
A source from the time being studied.
What does an archaeologist study?
Artefacts, bones, buildings, tools, ruins and other remains.
Why do historians use evidence?
To support their ideas about what happened in the past.
Name one thing ancient people used to survive.
Tools, fire, shelter, farming, hunting, clothing.
What does preserve mean?
To protect something from damage, decay or loss.
What is a secondary source?
A source made after the time being studied.
Name one tool an archaeologist might use.
Brush, trowel, shovel, camera, notebook, measuring tape.
Why should historians ask questions about a source?
To work out if it is useful, reliable and what it can tell us.
Name one ancient site or object.
Pyramids, Stonehenge, Pompeii, cave paintings, pottery, mummies, taj mahal, petral, great wall
What is the difference between history and archaeology?
History studies the past using sources; archaeology studies physical remains.
Give one example of a primary source.
Pottery, bones, tools, cave paintings, coins, inscriptions, ancient writings.
Why are artefacts important?
They show how people lived, worked, believed, traded or survived.
What is one reason a source might be unreliable?
It may be damaged, incomplete, biased, exaggerated or only show one perspective.
Why is the ancient past important to study?
It helps us understand how people lived and how societies developed.
Explain why historians cannot know everything about the ancient past.
Some evidence has been lost, destroyed, damaged or never recorded.
Explain the difference between primary and secondary sources.
Primary sources come from the time being studied, while secondary sources are created later by people interpreting the past.
Explain how archaeology helps us learn about people who left no written records.
Archaeologists study objects, buildings, bones and other remains to infer how people lived.
Explain how a historian could use an artefact as evidence.
They could examine what it is made from, how it was used, where it was found and what it reveals about daily life
Explain one way ancient discoveries help us understand people’s beliefs, values or daily life.
For example, burial objects can show beliefs about death, while tools can show how people worked and survived