History 8 Archaeology Manual Assignments
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1. What is geographic imagination? Why is important?
Geographical imagination: We carry a lot of geography in the mind. We may not know it but subconsciously we take mental images of the world the country that we live in. Geographical imagination is the map of the world that we keep in our heads. Every one of us has geographical imagination. It may not be the same, there may be conflict between two different peoples idea of what a certain landscape looks like but we all have it. It is important to go deep into thought to see it and think about it. An importance in geographical imagination is how you see a third world area compared to a first world area an how to contrast and compare them. A big issue with geographical imagination is when geographers have to completely different ideas about a third world as a victim, for instance, if two people see something two different ways then there is conflict between the two of them and they come to a dead end on what to do about it. Geographical imagination is important, because, it is important to see clearly a way of imagining geographical space.
3. Explain the four essential rules for an explanation to be considered scientific.
4. Why can there be exceptions to the essential rules? Explain.
- There can be exceptions to the essential rules because many errors can occur in measurements, observations, and differences in perception. Errors can occur in measurements because humans can make a mistake, and machines can make a mistake. More than one principle can effect an observation so exceptions are bound to appear. Two different types of perception exist: honest and intellectual. Differences in perception happen because people do not always have the same expectations of what should occur. Also, frames of reference and points of view can make a difference. If there were no exceptions to rules then there would be no rules.
Sources: CF Manual page 3 Camila Chabayta
5. Know the funnel of certainity and be able to explain it.
- The funnel of certainty is a process that we use to rate explanations, find probable theories, and determine laws. The funnel is separated into different levels. At the bottom (lowest rank), there is uncertainty, then, there is speculation, probable theory, and at the top (highest rank), there is reality. A good example of how we use the funnel of certainty are the pyramids in Egypt. For uncertainty, one example is that aliens built the pyramids. Moving onto speculation, we could assume that the Egyptians built the pyramids and were just skilled people. The probable theory in this case would be that the Egyptian people built the pyramids because we have no evidence of aliens.
Sources: History 8 Manual pp. 3-4
- Class Notes on History Homepage
6. Give and define the characteristics of a good theory.
- A good theory is predictive, powerful, and parsimonious. To be predictive, a theory’s hypothesis must accurately predict the outcomes of an observation. A powerful theory is one that has generality and scope and applies to many different circumstances. Finally, a theory is parsimonious when it is relatively simple. This way, it is much easier to understand, and there is a more likely chance that it is correct.
Sources:
History 8 Manual pp. 4-5
Criteria for Communication Theory:
http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~comm300/mary/general/criteria.html
Helen Dodd
7. Define catastrophism
- Catastrophism is a theory of evolution proposed by French scientist George Cuvier. His theory explained that many different natural disasters such as floods, over time created large changes of the life on Earth, while also changing the Earth's crust. These catastrophies caused the sudden death in large species like dinosaurs, as well as killing of different types of plants. The extinction of some animals and plants made room for new species to live. His theory explained why there were sudden changes of species in the fossil record. This theory strongly opposes the Theory of Evolution, which Cuvier himself did not believe in. Scientists did not take this theory very well, but religious groups seemed to believe and accept the idea more.
Sources:
http://anthro.palomar.edu/evolve/evolve_1.htm
http://evolution.about.com/od/scientists/p/Georges-Cuvier.htm
8. ID James Hutton
9. ID Charles Lyell
10. Uniformitariansim
11. Superposition
12. Three Age Theory
13. Plutarch: Great Men and their Character
14. Toynbee: Challenge and Response
15. Malthus Theory of Population
16. Darwin: Survival of the Fittest
17. Marx: Material Dialectic
18. Turner: Geography and the Frontier
- In 1893 Frederick Jackson Turner proposed his frontier thesis at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Turner argued that Europeans had been transformed by the settlement of North America, a process that produced a distinct American mentality and culture far different from European precedents. He saw the frontier as the source of American democracy, individualism, and nationalism. The frontier provided to the American people certain advantages that no longer existed in Europe, where land was expensive and population was high. The frontier was the place where European immigrants were Americanized and assimilated.Turner explained that as settlers moved more westward and came across dangerous frontier wilderness, they were transformed by that environment and its inhabitants. Turner once read in one of his famous essays, "The wilderness masters the colonist. It finds him a European in dress, industries, tools, modes of travel, and thought. It takes him from the railroad car and puts him in the birch canoe. It strips off the garments of civilization and arrays him in the hunting shirt and the moccasin." He stated that there were benefits to the frontier process, such as it accounted for every benign aspect of the American character and every positive feature of American political institutions. However, there were a few negative influences to the frontier. Too much frontier individualism could be selfish and lead to political corruption. There was also much criticism towards Turner's thesis. Many historians questioned the validity of the thesis. Some described it as Euro-centric, male-centric, anti-environmental, anti-Indian propaganda. Although Turner's frontier thesis has been attacked many times, it seems to have held on the imaginations of many Americans.
Sources:
- [1] Gale U.S. History in Context Frontier Thesis, Turner's
- [2] Library of Congress Meeting of Frontiers
- [3] PBS Frederick Jackson Turner
- By Jeffrey Wang
19. Radicals: History is the Story of Who Won
20. Boorstin: The Unexpected
21. Cultural Relativism
22. Why is history considered to be an interpretation of facts and events?
23. Define types of artifacts
- technic
- ideotechnic
- sociotechnic
24. ecofacts
25. features
26. relics
27. records
28. source
- Define primary sources and the types of things that might be a primary source.
- Define a secondary source.
29. bias Define and give the criteria to identify it.
