Foundations of Social Studies
HISTORY
HISTORY AND HISTORIANS
History vs. Prehistory
What is the difference between history and prehistory, exactly? The word “history” is related to the
word “story” and they mean practically the same thing. That is, “an account of something” or a
“narrative of events.” To be more precise, however, a history is written down. It comes from written
records collected from past times. The term “prehistory” was created to separate the period of time
before writing was invented by humans from the period of time after writing was invented by
humans. If you think about it this way, prehistory is everything that happened before there were
any written records kept and history is that period of time since people began keeping records.
Let’s think about people who study the past in an effort to tell the story of what happened. We
usually call these people historians. Historians use the records from the past as clues and evidence
when they attempt to piece together the events, causes and effects, people, and issues into a
narrative which can explain, or at least illustrate, what happened. That is what we call history.
Historians who study the period of time before there were written records however, have a very
different job. They do not have written documents such as diaries, newspapers, or sales records to
use as information. They must rely solely on the objects that people created and the effects that
people had on their environment to understand what happened. We have a specific term for these
historians: archaeologists. If the people who study history are historians, then the people who study
prehistory are archaeologists.
Archaeologists vs. Historians
The job of an archeologist is the same as that of a historian – to narrate the past – and in many ways
their work is similar. But in one way it is quite different; archeologists interpret artifacts rather than
reading documents. The artifacts of prehistory include simple things such as graves, buildings, tools,
and pottery. They can also include things which are much more difficult to see and study such as
DNA and pollen. When an archeologist “reads” these artifacts, they must interpret the meaning of
things which were created long ago, by people we no longer understand. Their job is difficult
indeed.
Historians can also use artifacts as evidence to understand the past. They have an additional, and
vital, source of information that archeologists do not. That is, they have written records. These
records come in two major types: primary sources and secondary sources. Primary means “first”
and these sources are always “first hand” evidence. They are original materials that have not been
analyzed in any way by a historian. Primary sources come from the time period that is being studied.
Research is based on primary sources. Artifacts, used by historians, are considered primary sources.
Secondary sources are information that has been written about something but is not a first-hand, or
eyewitness, account. These sources may be based on primary sources, but they include what we
Copyright © 2013, Davis School District
might call hindsight, that is, the person who wrote them had the benefit of coming after the period
they are writing about and so they have an advantage - something like a “Monday morning
quarterback.” Secondary sources include things such as biographies, histories, textbooks,
newspaper stories and commentaries. None of these were written by people who lived during the
time that they are writing about, but they may use and interpret primary source documents from
those time periods as a basis for their work.
Periodization
Studying all of history at one time is impossible. Historians have taken history and separated it into
chunks of time that are more manageable to study. These are called “periods” and the process of
deciding where to put the dividing points is called “periodization.”
Think about your own life. We used terms like infancy, childhood, teenage years, adulthood, middle
aged, and old age when we talk about the periods of our own personal history. It seems very natural
and easy to do. But where are the divisions? When does and infant become a child? Aren’t they a
“toddler” in between? You see, it can get very complicated. Historians look for broad trends and try
to avoid breaking them up between periods. They also look for important events which might serve
as dividing points. For example, the invention of writing is used as the dividing point between the
period known as prehistory and the period known as history.
Problems in Doing History
One of the biggest problems in doing history is being fair to all the people involved in the story you a
researching, studying, or writing about. Archaeologists can make mistakes when they interpret an
artifact. They might be missing a critical artifact that they don’t even know exists. They might need
an artifact and know that it must exist, but not be able to find it. Historians may use primary sources
that lead them to the wrong conclusion. They may not be able to use all the sources available so
they have to pick only a few. They may allow some of their own feelings into their interpretation of
the sources. All of these issues become problems for historians and for those of us who read history.
How much of the story is actually true? How much of it is partly true? How much of it is simply
incomplete?
Copyright © 2013, Davis School District