Historians power point year 7

1. The Work of the Historian

2. What Do Historians Do?
Investigate the past
• Investigate the past through studying sources,
which become evidence to support their
interpretation
• Historians are focused on primary sources which
are those made those close in time and space to
the events we want to know about
• Historians also use the interpretations of others,
these are called secondary sources
Other jobs
• Sometimes they study the history of histories
(historiography)
• Other times historians study the way the past is
represented in culture (its reception)

3. Historiography – an example - Napoleon
A revolutionary hero
who made things
better…
Or a tyrant who
made things worse.
A brilliant general…
Or a self-obsessed,
overconfident fool.

4. Reception – an example – Hercules

5. Types of Primary (1o)Sources
• Archaeological
• Written

6. Many Types of Written Sources
• Autobiographies
• Newspaper Articles
• Laws
• Reports
• Carvings
• Letters
• Diaries
• Interviews
• Et al.

7. Secondary (2o) Sources
Opinions and interpretations written after the
time of the events you are studying
E.g.
• Books
• Articles
• Textbooks
• Documentaries

8. Questions Asked by Historians
5 Ws
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
OMADBOOTLACE
• Origin?
• Motive?
• Audience?
• Date?
• Bias?
• Opinion or fact?
• Other sources
agree?
• Tone
• Language
• Ability to know
• Consistency within
the source
• Errors in the
source

9. Time Team
• What were the jobs of the people in the team?
• How did the archaeologists decide where to dig the
trench?
• What tools did the archaeologists use?
• What finds did the team make?
• What do artefacts help archaeologists do?
• Why did the Time Team only dig trenches and not dig
up the whole site?