Have you ever wondered how it is possible to know how the ancients dressed? egyptians, what was the route Alexander the Great in their conquests, or what beliefs the first men… ? The question we should ask ourselves is: “How can we know history?” The answer is simple: through the investigation of the historical sources. Here is a brief explanation of the types of sources available, their use, and the problems they have to overcome. historians when investigating them.
To know the pastthe historians They have different elements that provide them with information about a certain moment in a society: historical sources. Virtually anything that comes from a past society It can provide us with useful information to know it, if it is studied correctly. Among the different historical sources that may exist, we can highlight some:
· written sources: official documents (made by governments) or private (letters, memoirs), newspapers, literary works. Literary sources are some of the most common. Throughout history, written records have been left of numerous facts that help us to know the past much better. When cuneiform writing and engravings on clay tablets appeared almost 5,000 years ago, we began to have data and written evidence of what was happening in a given place. It is precisely the oldest written sources that have the most value, since they allow us to know things from other times that would otherwise be impossible to know.
· graphic fonts: works of art, photography, films, etc. Virtually any artistic expression tells us something about the time in which it was created. Pictures, photographs, engravings, etc. Visual artists (now also audiovisual) are one of the great historians, in their own way. For example, hieroglyphs help us to know more about Ancient Egypt, Robert Capa’s photographs were one of the first great testimonies of what happened in wars, and Nazi propaganda also allows us to better understand the neo-fascist ideology that shook to the world.
· monumental fountains: monuments, buildings, archaeological remains of towns, etc. Archeology is the one in charge of the study of archaeological remains. But we can find excellent historical sources in any monument or building.
· oral sources: stories of the protagonists, legends transmitted orally. It must be borne in mind that historical sources are never totally objective, and in the case of oral sources this statement is reaffirmed, despite the redundancy. These sources are based above all on the transmission of information orally, word of mouth, and it is likely that the more time has passed, the more the original story has been modified. In any case, oral sources can always be compared with other types of sources.
· Natural sources: human remains, remains of domestic animals or plants, evidence of climate change. In this case, it is generally biology that is responsible for the study of changes in flora and fauna, climate, biodiversity or ecosystems. The human being is not the only living being that populates the planet, and many others are also witnesses to the evolution that the times have undergone. Likewise, also the geography itself, the orography of the land, helps to explain historical contexts and its evolution to the present.
It must be taken into account that the historical sources based on what is done history they present some problems. They are often scarce, incomplete or damaged.
In many cases, what is today a historical source it was created at the time with a specific intention (such as justifying an act of government or highlighting the figure of a ruler), and it is necessary to know how to interpret its degree of truth (veracity). That is, the historical sources are never completely objective, and on many occasions there are clear differences between the stories of one and the other, generally based on the consequences that the historical events had for each people, nation or social group involved in them.
This is also why, in order to have a more exact idea of a certain historical context, it is best to have information from different sources, for example, various versions of written sources, but also to compare them with visual or oral sources.
Sometimes it happens that there are many sources on a topic or historical period, and the historian what you should do is select and concentrate on some, those that are most important to you, leaving aside others. This is an important process, since separating the important from the incidental information is essential to gain a more objective idea of a given historical context.
Once he historian has the historical source for his study, begins a long research either “criticism”, in which all possible aspects are analyzed to determine that it is not a false element.
Other articles on historical knowledge
In Overstory we have many other articles that you may find very interesting:
And if you liked the article, don’t hesitate to share it with your friends and contacts on Facebook, Twitter or Google +.