Chapter 1.4 – “How Historians study the past” Section 1: Understanding the past Studying history involves the culture, religion, politics, and economics Historians look for patterns They look for causes & effects that explain events They try to see the past through the eyes of the dead

Section 2: The Historian’s tools Primary source: evidence from one who witnessed the event (letters, diaries, videotapes, photographs, etc) Secondary source: evidence from one who did not witness the event (books, paintings, media reports, etc.) -They can provide more balanced views of an event Oral history: unwritten verbal accounts of events (stories, customs, songs, etc.)

Section 3: How knowledge of the past changes Historians must sort through info & choose what’s most important & trustworthy as evidence Ex. “mummy’s curse” was proven false Historians can draw different conclusions based on the same facts Ex. Stonehenge – Some thought it was a temple, later experts realized priests hadn’t lived in the area at the time