HIST. 1

1. METHODS IN WRITING
HISTORY

2. HISTORICAL METHODS
• COMPRISES THE TECHNIQUES AND GUIDELINES BY
WHICH HISTORIANS USE PRIMARY SOURCES AND OTHER EVIDENCE, INCLUDING
THE EVIDENCE OF ARCHAEOLOGY, TO RESEARCH AND THEN TO
WRITE HISTORIES IN THE FORM OF ACCOUNTS OF THE PAST.

3. EPIGRAPHY
• Epigraphy (Ancient
Greek: ἐπιγραφή, "inscription") is
the study of inscriptions or
epigraphs as writing; it is the
science of identifying graphemes,
clarifying their meanings, classifying
their uses according to dates and
cultural contexts, and drawing
conclusions about the writing and
the writers.

4. CODICOLOGY
• CODICOLOGY (FROM LATIN CODEX, GENITIVE CODICIS,
"NOTEBOOK, BOOK"; AND GREEK -ΛΟΓΊΑ, -LOGIA) IS THE
STUDY OF CODICES OR MANUSCRIPT BOOKS WRITTEN ON
PARCHMENT (OR PAPER) AS PHYSICAL OBJECTS. IT IS
OFTEN REFERRED TO AS 'THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE
BOOK', CONCERNING ITSELF WITH THE MATERIALS
(PARCHMENT, SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS MEMBRANE
OR VELLUM, PAPER, PIGMENTS, INKS AND SO ON), AND
TECHNIQUES USED TO MAKE BOOKS, INCLUDING THEIR
BINDING.

5. GENEALOGY
• GENEALOGY (FROM GREEK: ΓΕΝΕΑΛΟΓΊΑ GENEALOGIA FROM ΓΕΝ
ΕΆ GENEA, "GENERATION" AND ΛΌΓΟΣ LOGOS, "KNOWLEDGE"),
ALSO KNOWN AS FAMILY HISTORY, IS THE STUDY
OF FAMILIES AND THE TRACING OF THEIR LINEAGES AND
HISTORY. GENEALOGISTS USE ORAL INTERVIEWS, HISTORICAL
RECORDS, GENETIC ANALYSIS, AND OTHER RECORDS TO OBTAIN
INFORMATION ABOUT A FAMILY AND TO
DEMONSTRATE KINSHIP AND PEDIGREES OF ITS MEMBERS. THE
RESULTS ARE OFTEN DISPLAYED IN CHARTS OR WRITTEN AS
NARRATIVES.

6. HERALDRY
• HERALDRY (/ˈHƐRƏLDRI/) IS A BROAD TERM, ENCOMPASSING
THE DESIGN, DISPLAY, AND STUDY OF ARMORIAL BEARINGS
(KNOWN AS ARMORY), AS WELL AS RELATED DISCIPLINES,
SUCH AS VEXILLOLOGY, TOGETHER WITH THE STUDY OF
CEREMONY, RANK, AND PEDIGREE. ARMORY IS THE MOST
FAMILIAR BRANCH OF HERALDRY, CONCERNING THE DESIGN
AND TRANSMISSION OF THE HERALDIC ACHIEVEMENT, MORE
COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE COAT OF ARMS. THE COAT OF
ARMS USUALLY INCLUDES A SHIELD, HELMET, AND CREST,
TOGETHER WITH ANY ACCOMPANYING DEVICES, SUCH
AS SUPPORTERS, BADGES, HERALDIC BANNERS,
AND MOTTOES.

7. LINGUISTIC
• LINGUISTICS IS THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF LANGUAGE, AND INVOLVES AN
ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE FORM, LANGUAGE MEANING, AND LANGUAGE
IN CONTEXT. THE EARLIEST ACTIVITIES IN
THE DOCUMENTATION AND DESCRIPTION OF LANGUAGE HAVE BEEN
ATTRIBUTED TO THE 6TH CENTURY BC INDIAN GRAMMARIAN PĀṆINI, WHO
WROTE A FORMAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SANSKRIT LANGUAGE IN
HIS AṢṬĀDHYĀYĪ.

8. NUMISMATICS
• NUMISMATICS IS THE STUDY OR COLLECTION
OF CURRENCY, INCLUDING COINS, TOKENS, PAPER MONEY,
AND RELATED OBJECTS. WHILE NUMISMATISTS ARE OFTEN
CHARACTERIZED AS STUDENTS OR COLLECTORS OF COINS,
THE DISCIPLINE ALSO INCLUDES THE BROADER STUDY
OF MONEY AND OTHER PAYMENT MEDIA USED TO
RESOLVE DEBTS AND THE EXCHANGE OF GOODS. EARLY
MONEY USED BY PEOPLE IS REFERRED TO AS "ODD AND
CURIOUS", BUT THE USE OF OTHER GOODS IN BARTER
EXCHANGE IS EXCLUDED, EVEN WHERE USED AS A
CIRCULATING CURRENCY (E.G., CIGARETTES IN PRISON).

9. PALEOGRAPHY
• PALAEOGRAPHY (UK) OR PALEOGRAPHY (US; ULTIMATELY
FROM GREEK: ΠΑΛΑΙΌΣ, PALAIÓS, "OLD",
AND ΓΡΆΦΕΙΝ, GRAPHEIN, "TO WRITE") IS THE STUDY OF
ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL HANDWRITING (THAT IS TO SAY,
OF THE FORMS AND PROCESSES OF WRITING, NOT THE
TEXTUAL CONTENT OF DOCUMENTS). INCLUDED IN THE
DISCIPLINE IS THE PRACTICE OF DECIPHERING, READING,
AND DATING HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS, AND THE
CULTURAL CONTEXT OF WRITING, INCLUDING THE
METHODS WITH WHICH WRITING AND BOOKS WERE
PRODUCED, AND THE HISTORY OF SCRIPTORIA.

10. PAPYROLOGY
• PAPYROLOGY IS THE STUDY OF ANCIENT LITERATURE, CORRESPONDENCE,
LEGAL ARCHIVES, ETC..., AS PRESERVED IN MANUSCRIPTS WRITTEN ON PAPYRUS,
THE MOST COMMON FORM OF WRITING MATERIAL IN THE ANCIENT
CIVILIZATIONS OF EGYPT, GREECE, AND ROME. PAPYROLOGY INCLUDES BOTH
THE TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION OF ANCIENT DOCUMENTS IN A
VARIETY OF LANGUAGES AND THE CARE AND PRESERVATION OF RARE PAPYRUS
ORIGINALS.

11. PROSOPOGRAPHY
• PROSOPOGRAPHY IS AN INVESTIGATION OF THE COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF
A HISTORICAL GROUP, WHOSE INDIVIDUAL BIOGRAPHIES MAY BE LARGELY
UNTRACEABLE, BY MEANS OF A COLLECTIVE STUDY OF THEIR LIVES, IN MULTIPLE
CAREER-LINE ANALYSIS. PROSOPOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH HAS THE GOAL OF
LEARNING ABOUT PATTERNS OF RELATIONSHIPS AND ACTIVITIES THROUGH THE
STUDY OF COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHY; IT COLLECTS AND ANALYSES STATISTICALLY
RELEVANT QUANTITIES OF BIOGRAPHICAL DATA ABOUT A WELL-DEFINED GROUP
OF INDIVIDUALS.

12. SIGILLOGRAPHY
• SIGILLOGRAPHY (SOMETIMES REFERRED TO UNDER ITS
GREEK NAME, SPHRAGISTICS) IS ONE OF THE AUXILIARY
SCIENCES OF HISTORY. IT REFERS TO THE STUDY
OF SEALS ATTACHED TO DOCUMENTS AS A SOURCE OF
HISTORICAL INFORMATION. IT CONCENTRATES ON THE
LEGAL AND SOCIAL MEANING OF SEALS, AS WELL AS THE
EVOLUTION OF THEIR DESIGN. IT HAS LINKS
TO DIPLOMATICS, HERALDRY, SOCIAL HISTORY, AND
THE HISTORY OF ART.