6th Grade Intro Investigation

This work is licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  2018
Read.Inquire.Write. • University of Michigan • 48109 •
readinquirewrite@umich.edu

This content can be re-used in noncommercial work if attribution is

given to the authors: The Read.Inquire.Write. team at the University of
Michigan. Indicate if the original was changed.

Revised 01.19.2019
DAY 1
 Mysterious
Artifacts

How do historians
interpret historical
artifacts?
 Background
• Sometimes historians agree about how
ancient artifacts were used.
• They may have documents that tell them or
they may find artifacts still in use.
• For example, here’s an
ancient Roman container
used to hold oil. Some have
been found with oil still in
them.
 Background
• But sometimes artifacts are found and
historians can’t agree what it was used for.
 The Roman Dodecahedron
• From the 2nd and 3rd century
• Found all over Roman sites in France, Switzerland,
Austria, and Germany
• Twelve sides, each with a circular hole in the middle
(not always the same size), hollow center
• Not mentioned in Roman writing

So…

WHAT WAS IT?

 CENTRAL QUESTION

How do historians
interpret historical
artifacts?
Bookmark Reading Tool
Parts of the document

Gives background about

Headnote
the source & the author

The ACTUAL WORDS

Primary said or written
Source

Information about
Attribution where the source
comes from (author,
date, etc.)
 Museum articles
(Source 1)
Headnote: This excerpt combines quotes from two articles - one published by the Tyrol Regional
Museum in Austria and one from the Austrian Alpine Club museum and historical archive. Many
dodecahedra have been found in Austria. Michael Guggenberger studied classical archaeology at the
University of Vienna and the University of Innsbruck and works at the Austrian Alpine Club museum.

Attribution: Modified from two articles by Michael Guggenberger – “The Gallo-Roman Dodecahedron”
(2013) and “To figure something out from this would be an achievement: 260 years of dodecahedron
research” (translated from German) (2000).
 Museum articles
(Source 1)

The presence of the dodecahedra in wealthy graves and in

hoards [with other expensive objects] support the idea that they
were valuable… The length of time they were used shows that
they were not a short-term fashion trend, but rather an artifact
that was produced and used over many generations… The
dodecahedra were used by men and women. The users were a
wealthy group… which, multiple finds show, were both civilian
and military…
... Based on the number of finds, the quality of the materials,
and the costly manufacturing process, it is evident that these
dodecahedra were neither bargain goods that could be bought
on every corner, nor were they extremely rare objects.
 AFTER YOU READ…

(1) How do these articles from Austrian museums help you understand how
historians interpret artifacts?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

(2) How reliable is this source for understanding how historians interpret historical
artifacts?

Reliable –

Unreliable –

(3) Box the parts of the source that help you think about the central question.
 YouTube User’s Theory
(Source 2)
Headnote: Martin Hallett is a YouTube user who had a theory about the dodecahedra
and used his 3-D printer to test it. The text below is from the YouTube video.

There are lots of ideas about what they were for but none were completely
convincing. Why are they only found in the cold North of Europe for
example?
There is a hint in the hole sizes. The holes go small, medium, large, medium,
large on one side and L, M, L, M, S on the other side. And that’s what fingers
do.
And the studs in the corners look designed to catch wool. So that’s what I
tried… and look what happened next.

Attribution: Published on YouTube on May 26, 2014 by Martin Hallett. Retrieved from
https://youtu.be/poGapxsanaI?t=204
Watch 3:24 – 4:20
 AFTER YOU READ…

(1) How does this video from YouTube help you understand how historians
interpret artifacts?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

(2) How reliable is this source for understanding how historians interpret historical
artifacts?

Reliable –

Unreliable –

(3) Box the parts of the source that help you think about the central question.
 Uncertain Devices
(source 3)
Headnote: M.J.T. Lewis studied classics at the University of Cambridge and was an expert on
industrial archaeology (artifacts used in industry). He wrote a book on Surveying Instruments of
Greece and Rome. Surveying is measuring the land in order to make a map or plan. The only
mention of the dodecahedra in the book is in an section at the end of the book called “Uncertain
Devices”.

One suggestion is that they were for surveying… One historian proposed that ‘The Roman
surveyor would look through a pair of holes, holding the instrument far enough from his
eye for the circles to coincide; he would then instruct his assistant, holding a rod of given
length, to move far enough in the required direction for the rod to fill the opening
precisely. The distance between surveyor and assistant would then be the length of the
rod multiplied by the figure appropriate to the pairs of holes being used.’

But there are many objections to this procedure. Most dodecahedrons do not have such
neat proportions; no dodecahedra has a dimension or scale inscribed against a hole; and it
would be far simpler and more accurate to measure the distance directly by rope or rod.

Attribution: Modified from Surveying Instruments of Greece and Rome, 2004, written by M.J.T. Lewis.
 AFTER YOU READ…

(1) How does this appendix on Uncertain Devices help you understand how
historians interpret artifacts?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

(2) How reliable is this source for understanding how historians interpret historical
artifacts?

Reliable –

Unreliable –

(3) Box the parts of the source that help you think about the central question.
Bookmark Reading Guide
Headnote and attribution: What did this part of

the bookmark help me think about?

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

Source: What did this part of the bookmark help

me think about?

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

After you read: What did this part of the

bookmark help me think about?

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________
DAY 2
ARGUEMENT=

CLAIM +
EVIDENCE +
REASONING
Argument Sort
 Argument Sort
In my judgment, Max should be suspended for starting
the lunchroom fight with Justin. According to Jamie, a
student in their English class, Max and his friends are
often “mean to Justin in the hallways and in class when
the teacher isn’t looking,” because they say “jokes
under their breath and then laugh.” This shows that
Max and his friends have a history of bothering Justin
when there is no adult supervision. Jamie is a reliable
source because she is not friends with Justin or Max,
so she no reason to lie.
 Argument Sort
In my judgment, Max should be suspended for starting
the lunchroom fight with Justin. According to Jamie, a
student in their English class, Max and his friends are
often “mean to Justin in the hallways and in class when
the teacher isn’t looking,” because they say “jokes
under their breath and then laugh.” This shows that
Max and his friends have a history of bothering Justin
when there is no adult supervision. Jamie is a reliable
source because she is not friends with Justin or Max,
so she no reason to lie.
 Our Assignment

The local newspaper, The Town Sentinel, has asked people from different
professions to write about what they do. They are now asking for historians!

Your task is to write an email to the newspaper about how historians

interpret historical artifacts.

Make sure your email includes a CLAIM, EVIDENCE, and REASONING. You
might want to use some of the useful language in your argument too.
 Useful Language Chart
Making a claim:
• Historians interpret artifacts by…..
• Historians make sense of historical artifacts by…
• When there is a mysterious artifact, historians…

Providing evidence:
• For example, the Roman dodecahedron…
• For example, in the article ”…”, AUTHOR X says…
• The headnote says “….”

Reasoning:
• This means that …..
• This makes me think that …..
• This shows that …
• This source is reliable because….
• However, the source might not be reliable because….it is possible that….
 6th Grade Intro Investigation

This work is licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  2018
Read.Inquire.Write. • University of Michigan • 48109 •
readinquirewrite@umich.edu •

This content can be re-used in noncommercial work if attribution is

given to the authors: The Read.Inquire.Write. team at the University of
Michigan. Indicate if the original was changed.

Revised 01.19.2019