Timeline and Sources of History

Old coins, books, clothes, jewellery and utensils, Photographs, diaries, ID cards and memories from relatives

Sources of history can be places, people, texts or objects that give information about the past. Old family objects and records such as photographs, diaries, ID cards and memories from relatives can help us learn about history. Geologists study Earth’s features, so that choice is not a source of history in this sense, and dug-up remains are evidence studied by archaeologists rather than a separate source category here.

Archaeologists

Archaeologists study the past by digging up remains left behind by people, plants and animals. These can include tools, pots, beads, toys, bones, teeth, burnt grains and parts of houses or bricks. The other professionals study inscriptions, fossils, or Earth’s physical features, not dug-up remains in general.

Impressions of plants or animals preserved in soil or rocks

Fossils are impressions of footprints, or parts of plants or animals that are found preserved within layers of soil or rocks from long ago.

Hunters and gatherers

Early humans were mainly hunters and gatherers, meaning they relied on hunting animals and collecting edible plants and fruits for their survival before agriculture developed.