1. Unit 1 Historical Thinking and Early Man
Lesson 2 – Historical Artifacts

2. Scenario
“You and your friend are having troubles with gossip. Yesterday you received a note directly from your friend that described how she is mad at you because you spent more time with another group of friends that morning than her. Instead of responding directly to your friend, you decided to talk about your problem with another group of friends. You managed to avoid the note-writing friend, but by the end of the day she approaches you furious. She says that she heard from someone else that you said that you were not going to be friends with her anymore because she dresses weird. You never said this, but she doesn’t believe you because she is sure that she heard that you did say it.”

3. What Was the Problem? Direct communication (the note)
Indirection communication (Tell her I said . . )

4. Primary Sources
Definition: A document or information coming directly from the source – They are from the time period involved
Examples include:
Artifacts
Diaries
Interviews
Letters/Notes
Photographs
Speeches
Works of art
Audio recordings

5. Secondary Sources
Definition: Information which does not come directly from the source
Examples include:
Dictionaries
Textbooks
Encyclopedias
Histories
Magazine articles
Commentary/Critiques
Newspaper articles

6. The Cave of Lascaux You are a historian
Visit “The Cave of Lascaux” and record information about what you see in one section of the cave (The Hall of the Bulls, The Shaft, etc.)
Do NOT visit pages that discuss why the cave closed
Remember
The pictures are primary sources
Your observations are a secondary source
Form a hypothesis about why these pictures were painted

7. Cause and Effect
The cave was opened to the public in 1945, but it was closed in 1963
Why do you think the cave was closed?
Visit the “Why Lascaux Closed” page to find out why.