Tools of the Historian

A historian is

•A person who studies and writes about the people and events of the past.

Historians

•find out how people lived, what happened to them, and what happened around them.

Historians rely on

•Calendars or dating systems created by the people of the past to measure time. Most of these calendars were created based on important events.

What evidence do historians rely on to help measure time?

rule

rs

com

puters

cal

endar

s

Wat

er ta

bles

10% 10%

80%

0%

1. rulers

2. computers

3. calendars

4. Water tables

What were most historical calendars based on?

89%

0%

11% 0%

Important events Slice 2

Birthdates of the pharaohs Wars

Tree rings

1. Important events

2. Birthdates of the pharaohs

3. Wars

4. Tree rings

The Western Calendar

•gives us the dates used in our class and in our book. The Western Calendar was created around 500 by a Christian monk.

•begins on the year in which Jesus was thought to be born.

In the Western Calendar

•The years before the birth of Jesus are known as B.C. or “before Christ.”

•The years after the birth of Jesus are called A.D. or “Anno Domini.” This phrase comes from the Latin language and means “in the year of our lord.”

To date events

•Before the birth of Christ or B.C., historians count backward from the year 1.

•After the birth of Christ or A.D., historians count forward starting at the year 1.

•THERE IS NO YEAR 0!!!

What important event is the Western calendar based on?

Cro

p rota

tion

Lunar

cyc

les

Sea

son

chan

ges

Birt

h of J

esus

0%

90%

5%5%

1. Crop rotation

2. Lunar cycles

3. Season changes

4. Birth of Jesus

What does B.C. mean?

Brit

ish C

olum

bia

Big

Clo

ck

Birt

h of C

hrist

Bef

ore C

hurch

0% 0%

86%

14%

1. British Columbia

2. Big Clock

3. Birth of Christ

4. Before Church

What does A.D. mean?

Afte

r dea

th

Anno

Domin

i

Anoth

er d

ay

Alw

ays

done

5%0%

5%

90%1. After death

2. Anno Domini

3. Another day

4. Always done

Historians organize history

•By dividing it into blocks of time known as periods or eras.

•Into periods like decades, centuries, or time periods that are given names.

How do historians organize history?

1. Into days

2. Into blocks of time like decades

3. Into files

4. Into countries

Historians make sense• Of the flow of dates and events by

putting these things in chronological order, or the order of dates in which events happened.

• By putting these events on a timeline or a diagram that shows the order of events in a time period.

How do historians organize history?

1. By region

2. By political times

3. By chronology

4. By event importance

What type of diagram do historians use to display history?

Pie

char

t

Bar

gra

ph

Tex

tbook

A ti

mel

ine

25% 25%25%25%1. Pie chart

2. Bar graph

3. Textbook

4. A timeline

Timelines•Are usually evenly spaced and labeled with events.

•Can be single lines or multileveled.

Historians study

• A variety of sources to learn about the past including artifacts and documents.

• Primary sources or first hand pieces of evidence from the people who saw an event.

• Secondary sources which are created after the event by someone not involved.

Historians also look for

• Who, what when, where and why a document was created

• Whether or not the document is credible or truthful.

• Whether or not the document is biased or has an unreasonable point of view.

Historians•Piece all the information together to interpret and explain events in the past.

Are you liking your history class so far?

Yes N

o

50%50%1. Yes

2. No