Finding Franklin's Ships: History Skills

• Studying ancient history involves considering Historical Significance, Historical Perspective, Cause and Consequence, Continuity, and Change.

• Primary source documents contain raw, unprocessed data used by historians to reconstruct the past, originating directly from the event or time period in question.

• Inuit oral history, physical artifacts, and journals aided in learning about Franklin's ships, tracking down ship remainders, and understanding events from writings and camp materials.

• The Franklin ships were named HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. -The mission had two goals: mapping the Northwest Passage for better trade routes and recording magnetic data for navigation.

• Oral histories provide stories passed down through generations, offering personal experiences for a more detailed perspective.

• Historians used Inuit oral histories to find the Franklin ships, relying on traditional knowledge of ship sightings and wreck locations.

• A cairn is a pile of stones used as a navigation marker, grave, or method for leaving messages.

• During the Franklin Expedition, cairns were used to leave notes about the crew's fate and location.

• Archaeology involves excavation, which includes digging and carefully documenting artifacts and features to uncover evidence of past human activity.

• Geographical analysis studies interactions between ancient societies and their environment, focusing on settlement patterns and resource use to understand how geography influenced human behavior and cultural development.

• Surveying is the systematic search and mapping of an area to locate and record archaeological sites or features.

Beginnings of Civilization

• Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection relied on science-based information. -He observed finches worldwide, noting species changed and adapted to their environments. He also realized the world was older than 6000 years.

• James Ussher used the Christian Bible to pinpoint when humans came into existence.

  • Both Usher and Lightfoot believed the Earth was 6000 years old, though fossils prove it's older.

• John T. Scopes was charged in 1925 for teaching evolution in Tennessee, violating the Butler Act.

  • While initially found guilty, his conviction was overturned, leading to the repeal of the act in 1967 and giving teachers more curriculum freedom.

• In 1822, Gideon and Mary Ann Mantell discovered a new fossil in Britain, the Iguanodon, challenging the established timeline and showing the Earth was much older.

• Piltdown Man was a fraudulent archaeological find from 1912, combining human and ape fossils to create a supposed "missing link," exposed as a hoax in 1953.

• The Great Rift Valley is a major geological formation in East Africa, known for its tectonic activity and early human fossils.

• Leakey's questions emphasize conflict and theories about early human evolution, while Johanson's questions focus on discoveries and their impact on his views, both exploring early human evolution, key fossil discoveries, and prominent scientists.

The Human Family Tree

• Includes the Austros and the three Homos: Habilis, Erectus, and Sapiens.

  • Homo Habilis lived 1.6-2.4 million years ago and used advanced tools.
  • Homo Erectus was the first hominid to move out of Africa, living 200,000 to 1.8 million years ago.
  • Homo Sapiens (humans) originated in Africa 160,000 to 195,000 years ago.

• Stonehenge is significant for its prehistoric engineering and alignment with the sun, suggesting use as an astronomical observatory, religious site for rituals, ceremonies, and possibly a burial ground.

7 characteristics of a civilization

• Agricultural intensification includes irrigation, land reclamation, creating a planting calendar, and ensuring food security.

• Specialization in Occupations: With food production secured, roles specialized like judges, weavers, carpenters, and bankers, leading to civilization growth.

• Class Structure: Private land ownership caused wealth inequality, leading to divisions between nobles and commoners.

• Development of Science & Writing: Early civilizations used writing for record-keeping and developed tools for measuring goods and scientific advancements.

• Merchants and Trade: Trade shifted to manufactured goods and luxury items, with long-distance trade and merchants facilitating exchange.

• Centralized government: Regulated societies and maintained authority through political and military power.

• State Religion: Religion legitimized political power and influenced art and societal structure.

• Cro-Magnons lacked features like written language, large-scale agriculture, and urban settlements, focusing more on survival in smaller groups.

Rivers/bodies of water make up Mesopotamia

• Tigris River
• Euphrates River
• Nile River
• Mediterranean Sea
• Red Sea
• Jordan River
• Persian Gulf
• Arabian Sea
• Caspian Sea
• Black Sea

Significant contributions from Mesopotamian kingdoms

• Sumer: Arriving around 3000 BCE from central Asia, Sumer was the first to attempt unification of Mesopotamia, inventing cuneiform and developing its social, economic, and intellectual framework.

• Akkad: The Akkadians, under King Sargon the Great, were the first to unify all of Mesopotamia, with their kingdom stretching from Syria to Egypt.

  • Their daughter, Enheduanna, became the first known author and high priestess of Mesopotamia.

• Babylon: 1830-539 BCE Hammurabi's laws were divinely inspired by Shamash and included the ingenuity of hanging gardens.

• Assyr: Assurnasirpal II expanded his kingdom from the Persian Gulf to Egypt during his reign from 1000-700 BCE and had the Library at Nineveh.

• Persia: From 530-331 BCE, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Mesopotamia, integrating it into the Persian Empire with policies of religious tolerance, fair taxes, and local people in government.

• The Epic of Gilgamesh tells of the importance of friendship and gender roles, featuring Enkidu and Gilgamesh.