Sources of history are the different ways, materials and place that we can get our history from.
Oral Tradition #
Oral tradition is the passing down of information through word of mouth from one generation to another. It is usually through storytelling and songs.
Advantages of oral tradition
- Oral tradition keeps our history and stories alive from generation to generation.
- Oral tradition is easy to understand for people who cannot read or write.
Disadvantages of oral tradition
- Some details in oral tradition can be changed or lost over time.
- Oral tradition is not very reliable because some details can be made up.
Written History #
There are 2 types of written history. Primary Sources and Secondary Sources of history.
Primary sources
Primary sources of history are the original documents from the time of the events. They can be letters, diaries or newspaper articles.
Advantages of primary sources of history
- Written records preserve or keep our history
- This form of history is very reliable because it is from the original events
- It is a cheap way to learn about the past because you just read what is written.
Disadvantages of primary sources of history
- When people write down events, their own personal opinions and beliefs can affect what they write and what they leave out
- Not everyone’s side of the story is written down, so we sometimes are reading only one side of the story.
Secondary sources
Secondary sources of history are general books and history text books that are written by looking at different primary source of history and putting them together to create a complete picture of history
Advantages of secondary sources of history
- Books are easier to understand because they explain and summarise everything.
- You can get more points of views on the history by reading books written by different authors.
Disadvantages of secondary sources of history
- The authors may have their own personal opinions and bias that will end up in the books.
- Secondary sources depend on primary sources. If the primary sources were not reliable or good, the secondary sources like books will also be unreliable.
Archaeology
Archaeology is another source of history. It is when scientists dig in the ground to find and study old things left by people who lived in the past. It helps us learn about history by studying the physical objects and buildings from the past.
Advantages of archeology
- Object from the past, like tools or buildings are real evidence of the past and they are a very reliable source of history.
- We can learn more about the past by discovering things that were not written down.
Disadvantages of archaeology
- It is expensive and difficult to dig around for remains and it requires a lot of training and education.
- Most times we only find fragments (bits and pieces) and not complete objects
