Transcript Investigating the Past

Investigating the Past
Ms. Mohamed
6th Grade
Ancient History
Talk to a partner –
• What is ancient history?
Ancient History
• Refers to the distant past
– From the earliest humans to the first
great civilizations
Social Scientists
Talk to a partner • What are some examples of social
scientists?
People Who Study the Past
• They can be considered
detectives.
• They ask questions.
• They study evidence for clues and
form hypotheses.
Who Are These Experts
• Scholars who study the past are
called social scientists.
• Some examples of social
scientists include:
– Archaeologists
– Historians
– Geographers
Archeologist
Talk to a partner –
• What does an archeologist do?
Archaeologist
• Archaeologists dig up the past.
• Archaeologists study the past by examining the
objects people left behind.
• These objects are artifacts that were made or
used by the people.
• Some examples of artifacts include
–
–
–
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Clothes
Tools
Weapons
Coins
• When archaeologists find these artifacts they can
then as questions such as:
– Who lived in this place?
– When did they live?
– What were they like?
Historian
Talk to a partner –
• What does a historian do?
Historians
• Historians record the past.
• Historians are mostly interested in
the last few thousand years – when
people began leaving written
records.
• Historians usually ask
– What happened in the past?
• They study artifacts and written
records.
• They study artifacts and documents.
– Documents include diaries and letters.
Archaeologist vs Historian
In groups of three – discuss the
question below:
• How are an archaeologists and
historians similar?
• How are they different?
Archaeologist vs Historian
• How are an archaeologists and
historians similar?
– They both use artifacts to study the
past.
• How are they different?
– A historian records the past and is
mostly interested in the last few
thousand years – when people began
leaving written records.
– An archaeologist studies the past by
examining the objects people left
behind.
Geographer
Use your text to help you answer
the question below:
• What does a geographer do?
Geographers
• Geographers map the past.
• They study the natural features of
earth such as water, landforms,
plants, and animals.
• Geographers also look at – humanmade features such as towns,
roads, bridges, and dams.
• They help us answer questions such
as – Where did people live? How did
they use their environment to create
maps?
Social Scientists
Talk to a partner –
• What are some challenges social
scientists may encounter?
Social Scientists
• Social scientists who study the
prehistoric times have a unique
challenges.
• There is little evidence available.
• There are huge gaps of time where
there is no evidence at all.
• This lack of evidence means that
scientists can examine the same
evidence and generate different
answers and theories about how
humans came.
Prehistoric
Talk to a partner –
• What does prehistoric mean?
Prehistoric
Prehistoric times refer to times
before writing was invented
Cave Art
• Cave paintings provide social
scientists with clues about what life
was like during prehistoric times.
• Caves with paintings thousands of
years old have been found all over
the world.
• Cave paintings show:
– What animals roamed the earth
– How people hunted
– And hints of what people believed.
• Many of the cave art is found in
rooms deep inside of the caves.
Cave Art
• Scientists hypothesize that cave
artists used torches as they
worked in these dark places.
– Some cave art are:
• Very large and taller than a person
• Some were done on high ceilings
• Scientists also hypothesize that
these prehistoric artists built
scaffolding and planks raised
above the floor to reach the high
places.
Caves
• Caves are a form of artifacts for
social scientists to study.
• Scientists have found :
– Lamps for burning animal fats
– Bits of rope
– And tools for engraving and
painting.
Cave Art
Talk to a partner –
• How do you think cave art helps
scientists?
Cave Art
• Cave paintings and artifacts help
social scientists answer questions
about how ancient humans lived.
They also raise new questions for
scientists.
Cave Painting of a Human
• One cave painting that was found
was about 11,000 and 18,000 years
old.
• This painting illustrated a hunting
scene.
• Human cave paintings are rare.
• Paintings of animals are more
likely.
• Most social scientists believe that
this painting was part of a hunting
ritual.
Rituals
Talk to a partner –
• What is a ritual?
Rituals
• A ritual is
Cave Paintings of Animals
• The first cave art painting of an animal was
created approximately 17,000 years ago.
• The painting illustrates prehistoric animals
such as bulls, bison, and horses.
• Some scientists believe that the animal
paintings were created to capture the
magical powers of certain animals.
• They also thought that the painters believed
in spirits and created the art to honor or
influence them.
• Moreover, some scientists speculate that
the cave was a place of worship and the
paintings were used in rituals or
ceremonies.
Cave Paintings of Shapes &
Handprints
Use your text to help you answer
the question below:
• What do scientist believe about
the shapes and handprints in the
caves?
Cave Paintings of Shapes &
Handprints
• Paintings of shapes and
handprints are fairly common in
caves.
• Many scientists believe that the
handprints were a way the artists
signed their work.
• Some social scientists think that
the geometric shapes had special
meanings in rituals.
Video
• Cave Art
• http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/en/
02_00.xml
Sounds in the Caves
Use your text to help you answer
the question below:
• What did researchers discover
about the sounds in the cave?
Sounds in the Caves
• Researchers discovered that the
sound in caves were loudest in
the areas that were painted.
• They hypothesize that those areas
were used for social gatherings.
Spear Thrower
• The prehistoric spear thrower
was made from a reindeer antler
bone.
• It was about 10 inches long.
• It was probably made about 18,000
years ago.
Clay Sculptures
• Clay sculptures were found in a
cave in France.
• The sculptures were of two bison
and were made approximately
10,00 to 14,00 years ago.
Clay Sculptures
Use your text to help you answer
the question below:
• What did the scientists believe
about the clay sculptures?
Clay Sculptures
• Scientists believed that the
sculptures belonged to a certain
clan.
• They also believed that they were
used in an important ceremony that
was held deep inside the cave.
• It may have been a coming of age
ceremony to show that a child
became an adult.
• They based this belief on the fact
that footprints of young people were
found near the sculptures.
Cave Art Tools
Talk to a partner –
• What tools do you think the cave
artists used to create their cave
art?
Cave Art Tools
• Some prehistoric tools cave
artists used include:
– Two piles of colored rock-hard
minerals and a grindstone for
grinding minerals
– Sculptor’s pick
– Engraving tool
Cave Art Tools
Use the text to answer the question
below:
• How do scientists believe that the
cave artists made paint?
Cave Art Tools
• Scientists believed that cave
artists made paintings by grinding
colored minerals into powder.
They probably mixed the powder
with animal fat or vegetable oil to
create various colors.
Cave Art Tools
Use the text to help you answer the
question below:
• How do scientists believe that the
cave artists were able to paint?
Cave Art Tools
• Scientists believed that the cave
artists used brushes made of
moss, fur, or human hair.
• The cave artists may have also
blown paint through hollow bird
bones to create softer textures,
such as shaggy winter
Reflection
• In groups of three – discuss three
meaningful things you learned
during this lesson.