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Question: History clues!?
how do we know so much about historyWww@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Evidence!.
We look at artifacts found by archeologists!. Experiments can be done to date these or to find out how they were made etc!.
We look at buildings and items left behind, geographical and written documentation too!.
When there is no existing written documents from the era in question we have to look at secondary sources for instance the Roman historians writing about earlier times!.
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Well we now no more than we ever have!.

The main reasons are the advances in Archaeology!.

Archaeology evolved as a serious and accurate science in the mid 19th Century!.

We are now able to work out how people lived, what they ate, when and how they died etc!.

Another important factor is the deciphering of ancient writings, until the 19th Century the writings of the first civilisations were totally unknown, an so we knew little about the Sumerians(who invented writing, the wheel,Calendar, Beer and mathematics), Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Minoans, Elamites, Egyptians, Phoenicians etc!.!.!.what they invented, how they lived etc!.

Literally millions of written clay and stone tablets are now available!.

Carbon dating is also very useful, as is geology and advances in forensics and anatomy!.

We can now chart written recorded history going back to 3300BC through to the present day!.

Until the last 150 years we had to rely on Greek and Ronman writers who were often inaccurate when writing about times before their own, and The Bible, which was accurate in parts, but has proved to be inaccurate in other parts!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

By written records left by civilizations!.
By the physical clues left!. Buildings of course, and roads, Monuments, etc!.
Simple pottery lets us date who was in contact with who, as each generation produced its own styles of pottery, and by finding samples in different places let us know who traded and traveled back and forth!.
We can study samples of fossilized crap, as well as study undigested material in corpses, and determine what the diets of the people were!. Studying their bones and teeth, we could draw information again on their diet, their state of health, and even how much work they did!. ( a child slave for instance would show stress fractures and other signs of hard labor, where a noble child would tend to show better diet and less stress)!.
We can study samples of weapons, and sometimes figure out where the ores were mined, and again who travelled where and traded with whom!.
We can look at the geography with satellites and tell where rivers used to run, or figure out other changes in terrain!.
We can use core ice samples and tell how hot or cold the climate was in a particular year or century!.
We can use tree rings in a locality and find out how wet or dry the climate was,
In short, almost any artifact left behind by a society, culture, or individual can tell us about the people and times!. The hard part is figuring out what the message is!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Firstly , from artefacts - the things people left behind!. These range from buildings all over the world to everyday items like the clothes and jewellery they wore!. For some ancient peoples, this is all the record we have as the left no written record!. That is our second source!. Since the days of the Egyptian Pharaohs, the Ancient Greeks and the Romans people have been writing - stories, poetry, diaries, histories!. The third source is the natural world - things like carbon dating, tree rings (which can tell us about what the climate was like over a period of years) and pollen - which can do the same!. Oh, I forget a fourth source - the actual bodies of people - those can tell forensic pathologists what illnesses may have been prevalent, what weapons were being used to kill people, etc!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

We have written records of the times--chronicles, letters, inscriptions, official documents, and, more recently, newpaper accounts and photographs!. We also have the evidence of archaeology!. New evidence, most often in the form of private papers or archaeological finds, continually comes to light--one reason why new histories of the same subject keep being written!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Paintings, drawings, artifacts found during excavations, old buildings, books, songs, fossils, folk tales!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

From writings put down at the time history was in the making!. I used to love history when at school, well, still do as a matter of fact!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

not so!. I got C on history!. Aha!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

books and fossils etc!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I dont, I got an F!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

What people from the past have left us!. Writings etc!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

i`m not sure,my mum had an a+ from historyWww@QuestionHome@Com