History Alive! – The Ancient World
Chapter 1: Investigating the Past
1.1 Introduction (p.5)
§ Ancient history: concerns the distant past, from the earliest humans through the first great civilizations
§ People who study history are a lot like detectives conducting an investigation
o Ask questions
o Study evidence for clues
o From hypotheses (educated guesses)
§ One of the most amazing clues about what life was like long ago was discovered by four teenagers at Lascaux, France (September 12, 1940)
o They found a cave with paintings of animals all over the walls and ceilings
1.2 Detectives Who Study the Past (p.6)
§ Social scientists: scholars who study human society
o Archeologists: examine objects that people have left behind
§ Artifacts: anything made or used by people in the past
o Historians: recorders of the past; most interested in the last few thousand years, when people began leaving written records; they study all kinds of artifacts and documents; they ask what happened and they try to understand why events happened the way they did
o Geographers: study natural features of the Earth (e.g., water, landforms, plants, and animals), as well as human made features (e.g., towns, roads, bridges, and dams); they often create maps to show what they have learned
1.3 Cave Art: Treasures of the Past (p.7)
§ Prehistoric: before written history
§ Cave paintings (like those at Lascaux, France) provide clues about what life was like in prehistoric times
o They show what animals roamed the Earth and how people hunted
o They often offer hints about what people believed
o They also provide clues in the form of artifacts
o Cave paintings and artifacts can help answer many questions about how ancient humans lived, but they also raise new questions for scientists to puzzle over
1.4 Cave Painting of a Human (p.8)
§ Description of cave painting at Lascaux, France
§ Paintings of humans are rare in cave art
§ Ritual: relating to a ceremony, such as a religious ceremony
1.5 Cave Painting of Animals (p.9)
§ The cave painting at Lascaux was created about 17,000 years ago
o It shows many prehistoric animals, such as bulls, bison, and horses
§ Scientists have many ideas about why animals paintings were created:
o Artists tried to capture the “magical powers” of certain animals
o Painters believed in spirits and created the art to honor or influence them
o The cave was a place of worship and that paintings were used in rituals or ceremonies
1.6 Cave Paintings of Shapes and Handprints (p.9)
§ Paintings of shapes and handprints are fairly common in cave art, but their meaning is a bit of a mystery
o Many scientists believe that handprints were the way an artist signed a painting
o Some think geometric shapes had a special meanings in rituals
§ Researchers tried signing inside one painted cave in France
o They discovered that the sound was loudest in the areas that were painted
§ They guess those areas were used for special gatherings.
1.7 Spear Thrower (p.10)
§ Description of prehistoric spear thrower found in France, made about 18,000 years ago
o Some scientists believe that the artist carved the horse for decoration
o It could have been a good-luck charm to protect the hunter or make him/her more successful
o It might have been related to the hunter’s name
o It could have been a way of identifying the clan that the hunter belonged to
1.8 Clay Sculptures (p.10)
§ Description of clay sculptures found inside a cave in France, made about 10,000 to 14,000 years ago
o Scientists have two main ideas about why these sculptures were created:
§ The sculptures showed that the cave belonged to a certain clan
§ They were used in an important ceremony that was held deep inside the cave
· It might have been a coming-of-age ceremony to show that a child had become an adult—footprints of young people have been found near the sculptures
1.9 Cave Art Tools (p.11)
§ Cave artists used tools made of sharpened stones to sculpt and engrave objects and cave walls
§ Scientists study tools like these and try to guess how they were used
o They believe that cave artists made paints by grinding colored minerals into powder; they probably mixed the powder with animals fat or vegetable oil to create various colors
o For painting, they might have used brushes made of moss, fur, or human hair
§ They may also have blown paint through hollow bird bones to create softer textures
1.10 Chapter Summary (p.11)
QUESTIONS:
1. How are people who study history a lot like detectives?
2. What do the following social scientists study: archeologists, historians, and geographers?
3. What can cave paintings tell us about what life was like in prehistoric times?
4. Describe and discuss the cave painting of the human.
5. Describe and discuss cave paintings of animals.
6. What are some possible meanings of handprints and shapes in cave paintings?
7. Describe and discuss the spear thrower.
8. Describe and discuss the clay sculptures.
9. What are some ways that cave art tools may have been used?