Historical Records & Archaeology

We know what happened in the past because people left clues like old letters, ruins, and pottery. It is like being a detective for the whole world. If three different people wrote down that a king was kind, he probably was! Knowing where we came from helps us see the truth of where we are now.

Truth in history is triangulation: where multiple independent sources point to the same spot, dig there.

Historiography studies how history is written. It requires triangulation: comparing multiple independent sources to find the intersection of truth. While no record is perfectly objective, the convergence of archaeological evidence and written testimony provides a high-confidence model of past events.

SOUND: The echo in an old building: sound bouncing off centuries.

SMELL: The scent of old paper or rain on dry dirt: petrichor of the past.

TASTE: A fig: a fruit grown for thousands of years, unchanged.

TOUCH: A very old brick: feel the work of someone from long ago.

SIGHT: An old photograph: frozen light from a moment that is gone.

BODY: Feel the history in your own bones as you walk where others walked.

Music: Try by Colbie Caillat

Music: Closing Time by Semisonic

Part of Truth & Knowledge — PHILOSOPHY — Education Revelation