Detecting Prehistory

Background…

When studying prehistory, historiansand other professionals often have to act like detectives to solve themysteries of the past.  Instead ofreading books, diaries, or speeches from a specific time period, scholarsnormally are forced to rely upon artifacts to provide information about ancient peoples and cultures. Because the people living in North America before European explorationdid not have written languages for experts to analyze, much of what we knowabout the first inhabitants of this continent originates from the carefulanalysis of artifacts. Furthermore, when attempting to identify and explain theearly artifacts of Native Americans, historians often don’t work alone; theyrely on the help of archaeologists, anthropologists, and geographers (and otherpeople from related fields).  Together,as a team, professionals make inferences aboutartifacts and how these prehistoric objects explain past events and people.Although the conclusions reached by experts provide new insight about the livesof prehistoric people, the discovery of new artifacts, in addition toadvancements in science and technology, often triggers debate, controversy, andat times even the rewriting of history!

Before you Begin…

Each of you has received a cardidentifying your profession for the day (archaeologist, anthropologist,geographer, or historian) and by now you should be assembled in teams based onthe color of your cards.  In orderto prepare yourself for your upcoming “detective” work complete thefollowing 3 tasks:

1. Use a dictionary (traditional or online) to locate and record the definitions of the 3 bold words in the first paragraph entitled “Background.” 
2. Use a dictionary (traditional or online) to locate the definition of your designated job (either archaeology, anthropology, geography, and history).
3. Based on the definition you found for the previous question, construct 3 questions that someone in your profession might want to answer when analyzing a prehistoric artifact.  For example, a historian would want to know, “When was this object made?”

The Case…

Use the essay (“American Prehistory:8000 Years of Forest Management”), the chart you completed in Worksheet 1,class discussion, and the 3 completed tasks above to help you solve Worksheet 3: “The Case of the Mystery Artifacts.” Beforetrying to solve the mysteries, look at each of the artifacts on Worksheet 3 andanswer the 3 questions you decided were relevant to your field of study (fromquestion #3 above).  Your ultimategoal is to rely on each other’s expert opinions, and as a team make inferencesbased on the evidence to answer the questions listed under each artifact. Be prepared to give a 5-10 minute oral presentation in order to teach theclass about your line of work as either an archaeologist, anthropologist,geographer, or historian and to explain how and why your group reached itsconclusions for each of the Native American artifacts. Note that the mystery of Artifact #1 has been “solved” – use thisexample as a guide in your detective work.