DIFFERENT

SOURCES OF
HISTORY
What are the Sources of Historical
knowledge?
Sources are our way of peering into the past, but the
various kinds all present their own benefits and difficulties.

However cool actual sources from times gone by may be,

we cannot simply assume that everything they tell
us (or everything we think they tell us) is true, or
that we are automatically able to interpret their contents
and context correctly. They were made by people, from
within their own contexts.
What are the Sources of Historical
knowledge?

The Historian, however, has to use many

materials that are not in books. Where these
are archeology, epigraphical, or
numismatical materials, he has to depend
largely on museum.
SOURCES
1. Written Sources
Some examples of written sources are
contemporary letters, eyewitness accounts,
official documents, political declarations and
decrees, administrative texts, and histories
and biographies written in the period that is
to be studied.
DIARY

Extracts from a diary written by J Theodore West

between 1853 and 1866. (DUL ref: Add MSS 539)
SOURCES
2. Epigraphy
Epigraphy refers to the study of inscriptions
engraved upon various surfaces such as
stone, metal, wood, clay tablets, or even
wax.
MARKER
SOURCES
3. Artifacts
Artifacts are man-made things of archaeological
interest, often from a cultural context.

Examples are pottery, utensils, tools and

jewelry, which can alert us to daily lives, style
and culture
What are the Sources of Historical
knowledge?
A primary source is first-hand material that
stems from the time period that one wants to
examine, whereas a secondary source is an
additional step removed from that period – a
'second-hand' work that is the result of
reconstructing and interpreting the past using the
primary material, such as textbooks and, of
course, websites such as this one.
PRIMARY SOURCES
Primary Sources are materials produced by
people or groups directly in the event or
topic being studied. These people are either
participants or eyewitnesses to the event.
PRIMARY SOURCES
• In the natural and social sciences, primary sources
are often empirical studies research where an
experiment was performed, or a direct observation
was made.
• In general, a primary source is closest to the
event, person, idea, or period that you are studying
Some examples of the primary
sources:
1. Photographs that may reflect social
conditions of historical realities and
everyday life
2. Old sketches and drawings that may
indicate the conditions of life of
societies in the past
SECONDARY SOURCES
Secondary Sources as “the testimony
of anyone who is not an eyewitness- that
is of one who was not present at the
event of which he tell”
SECONDARY SOURCES
The people writing the secondary
material are just as bound to their own
contexts as the ancients they are
studying.
It is important to always study more than
one secondary sources.
SECONDARY SOURCES
On the other hand, Secondary Sources
are those sources which were produced
by an Author who used primary sources
to produced materials.