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Investigating the past. Studying History involves investigating what happened in the past and why. People who study history are a lot like detectives conducting an investigation. They ask questions, study evidence for clues, and form hypothesis. Investigating the past.
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Investigating the past Studying History involves investigating what happened in the past and why. People who study history are a lot like detectives conducting an investigation. They ask questions, study evidence for clues, and form hypothesis.
Investigating the past • On September 12, 1940 four teenagers found cave paintings in Lascaux, France. • Scholars would study these type of cave paintings. • Scholars who study human society are called social scientists.
Investigating the past • Many social scientists help us study the past. • The “history detectives” are archaeologists, historians, and geographers.
Investigating the past • Archaeologists study the past by examining objects that people have left behind. • An artifact is anything made or used by humans, such as clothing, tools, weapons, and coins.
Investigating the past • Historians are recorders of the past. • Historians focus on the last few hundred years when people began leaving written records. • To find out these answers historians study artifacts and documents, which include diaries and letters to discover these answers
Investigating the past • Geographers study the natural features on earth, such as water, landforms, plants, and animals. • Geographers also look at human made features such as towns, roads, bridges, and dams.
Investigating the past • Cave paintings like those at Lascaux, France provide clues to what life was like before writing was invented. • The paintings were large in size and taller than a person’s height, therefore social scientists theorized that prehistoric artists built scaffolding, or planks raised above to produce these paintings.
Investigating the past • The paintings of humans are rare in cave art. The paintings depict a scene where animals are much more realistic than humans. • Many social scientists think that the paintings were a ritual before the hunt.
Investigating the past • The Cave paintings at Lascaux were created 17,00 years ago and show many prehistoric animals such as bulls, bison, and horses. • Scientists hypothesize that the artists were trying to capture the “magical powers of certain animals or that they were creating art to honor or influence their gods.
Investigating the past • Cave paintings in Argentina, South America show a circular shape, a sticklike animal, and several handprints. • Many scientists believed that the handprints were a way to sign their paintings. • The handprints found were very small and scientists have theorized that people were probably smaller than they are today.
Investigating the past • The prehistoric spear thrower was found in France and made from a reindeer antler bone 18,000 years ago. • The spear thrower had a detailed leaping horse on the front. The carving may have been a good luck charm or identifying his name or clan.
Investigating the past • Clay sculptures of two bison were another artifact found in France. • They were made about 10,000 to 14,000 years ago. • Scientists believe that it represented a specific clan or a ritual.
Investigating the past • The prehistoric materials and tools cave artists used were colored minerals, grindstone, and a sculptors pick, and engraving tool.
Investigating the past • Scientists studied the tools used and believed that the cave artists made paints by grinding colors into powder. • They probably mixed the powder with animal fat or vegetable oil to create different colors. • They also believe that they may have used brushes made of moss, fur, or human hair.
