Chapter 1 - Investigating the Past

What does this spear thrower, with its detailed carving, indicate about the person who may have used it?

• This person was a hunter

• This person was very strong

• This person prayed to animals

• This person was a skilled painter

People who study the past are most like

• teachers

• detectives

• builders

• artists

Historical questions are often difficult to answer for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

• Clues are centuries old.

• Artifacts are easy to find.

• Witnesses are not around anymore.

• Expert social scientists are usually necessary to solve historical mysteries.

Which of these activities would an archaeologist most likely do?

• make maps

• examine objects

• read old newspapers

• study Earth's features

An object made or used by people in the past is called

• a theory.

• a ritual.

• a document.

• An artifact.

Why do historians read diaries and letters from the past?

• to agree on plans for the future

• to compare their ideas of history

• to learn to speak ancient languages

• to find out what happened and why

which of these is a human-made feature that a geographer might study?

• a cave

• a road

• a spear

• a volcano

A prehistoric object is one that comes from a time

• before history was written.

• before people lived in cities.

• before humans hunted animals.

• before electricity was discovered.

What is the evidence that prehistoric cave artists built wood structures (scaffolding/ladders) to stand on?

• Many trees grew in the area.

• The ancient planks are still there.

• Pictures of the scaffolding have been found.

• Some paintings are too high to be reached from the floor.

In ancient paintings were found in a cave, which of these questions would be the hardest to answer?

• WHY did people paint in caves?

• HOW did people make their paint?

• WHAT did people paint pictures of?

• WHERE were the caves located?