Understanding Our Past

Toward CivilizationSection 1

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Geography & History• Geography is the study of people, their environments and the

resources available to them.• By showing how people lived in different times and places,

geographers have added to our knowledge of human history.• Usually geographers draw conclusions from limited amount of

evidence.• For example:– Tons of river mud found in the ruins of an ancient city can

indicate that the city was wiped out by a flood.– Language and art in widely separated regions may suggest

that there was once contact between the two places.

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Five Themes of Geography1. Location

Location tells where a place is on the surface of the Earth.—You can locate any place on a map using latitude and longitude.

2. Place Geographers describe places in terms of their physical

features and human characteristics.—Landforms, bodies of water, climate, soil quality, resources, plants and animal life.

3. Human-Environment Interaction Since the earliest times, people have interacted with the

environment.—They have shaped & been shaped by the places in which they lived.

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Five Themes of Geography (Con’t)4. Movement

The movement of people, goods, and ideas is another key link between geography and history.

5. Region Geographers divide the world into many types of regions.

—Some based on physical characteristics or regions may be defined by political, economic, or cultural features.

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Before History• Prehistory is the period of human history before writing was

developed.—Because of no writings, scientists study other things to learn about early humans.

• Archaeology is the study of past societies through an analysis of what people left behind.—These scientists study the tools, pottery, weapons, buildings and household items that people used.

• Anthropology is the study of human life and culture.—These scientists use artifacts and human fossils to find out how early people lived.

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Archaeologists & Anthropologists• Both of these scientists use scientific methods to help them with

their work. (Scientific Method—Educated guessing)• Some examples:

1. Learn about what people ate by analyzing the bones, skins, and plant seeds that are found.

2. Determine how old objects are. Use radiocarbon dating: Dates an object by measuring

the amount of radioactive carbon C-14 left in it. Up to 50,000 years.

Thermo luminescence dating: Dates objects by measuring the light given off by electrons in the soil around the objects. Up to 200,000 years.

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Historians Reconstruct The Past• Historians study how people lived in the past.—These

historians rely heavily on written evidence.• About 5,000 years ago, some people in different parts of the

world began to keep written records.—That marked the beginning of recorded history.

• Historians carefully study written evidence, such as letters, tax records, photographs, artwork or film.

• Historians are like detectives, they must evaluate the evidence and determine if it is reliable.—They try to find answers to questions.

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Historians Reconstruct The Past (Con’t)• The main responsibilities of historians is to interpret the

evidence and explain what it means.—The goal is to

determine the causes and effects of events. • By explaining why things happened in the past, the historian

can help us understand what is going on today and what may happen tomorrow.