Investigating the Past Intro reviewed 8/24

Investigating the Past

Detectives who study the past

1. Scholars who study human society are called social scientists. Many social scientists can help us study the past. Among these “history detectives” are archaeologists, historians, and geographers.

Dropdown

What are detectives called who study the past?

Select answer

Archaeologists: Digging Up the Past

Archaeologists study the past by examining objects, or artifacts, that people have left behind. These artifacts are anything made or used by humans, such as clothing, tools, weapons, and coins. When archaeologists discover a place that has artifacts, they ask questions like these: Who lived in this place? When did they live here? What were they like? Then archaeologists study the artifacts for clues.

Historians: Recording the Past

Historians are the recorders of the past. Human beings have been around for such a long time that historians tend to focus mostly on the last few thousand years, when people began leaving written records. Historians want to answer this question: What happened in the past? To find out, they study all kinds of artifacts and documents. They read diaries and letters. Besides asking what happened in the past, historians try to understand why events happened the way they did.

Multiple Choice

Historians mostly study periods of time BEFORE written records.

• False

• True

Geographers: Mapping the Past

Geographers study the natural features of Earth, such as water, landforms, plants, and animals. They also look at humanmade features, such as towns, roads, bridges, and dams. These scientists help us answer such questions as: Where did people live? How did they use their environment to survive? Geographers often create maps to show what they have learned.

Multiple Choice

Which of these would a geographer NOT study?

• water

• plants

• animals

• religion

Multiple Choice

What kind of scientist study's objects, or artifacts to learn more about the past?

• archaeologists

• historians

• geographers

Multiple Choice

What kind of scientist study's written records to learn more about the past?

• archaeologists

• historians

• geographers

Multiple Choice

What kind of scientist study's land forms to learn more about the past?

• archaeologists

• historians

• geographers