Material sources are what? Material sources of history. Real sources: examples

Mankind has many thousands of years. All this time our ancestors accumulated practical knowledge and experience, created objects of everyday life and masterpieces of art. They made mistakes and made great discoveries. How do we know about their lives? Can we take anything useful for ourselves in order not to let slips in the present?

Of course, this is possible. Today, there are many sciences that study material sources. Let's examine it in detail.

Definition and classification

So, material sources are all material objects that reflect different spheres of human life and activity. Everything that characterizes the historical process that is happening now or in the past, whether it be inscriptions, remnants of everyday things or human remains, can carry invaluable information to researchers.

Thus, we have defined the widest scope of this concept. Let us now sort out the classification for greater orderliness.

At first, the picture evolved quite simply: the era of savagery, which was replaced by the time of the barbarians, and after - the emergence of civilization. However, such a harmonious classification broke the material sources of the Middle Ages. They completely inappropriately wedged in after the tremendous flowering of ancient states.

Today, researchers are increasingly inclined to the next division of cultural monuments. There are three main groups (each has subsections):

- Material sources, examples of which will be given below.

- Fine monuments - drawings, photographs, symbols on coins and so on.

- Verbal. They are divided into oral and written. The first are studied by ethnography.

Features of correct operation

Material sources are the most diverse monuments, finds, mentions, songs and legends. How to deal with them and merge them into the system?

Such a task is beyond the power of one science or group of people. To develop such a broad direction in the development of society, several disciplines have been created, with which we will get acquainted further.

What methods are used when studying material sources? To begin with, we mention the human factor. Any result is always given through the prism of the worldview of the researcher or the author of the written document. Therefore, often scientists do not receive objective information, but only confirm or refute their conjectures.

The main method in working with sources is the following: all conclusions are made only after studying the entire complex of findings, evidence, facts. You can not pull something out of context. The overall picture is like a puzzle. Let's see what disciplines are involved in such research.

Archeology and Anthropology

These two sciences work most closely with material sources. The first of them has a goal to understand the evolution of man and society, to study the process of the formation of the main spheres of life from the beginning of centuries to today.

Anthropology deals with the study of man himself (races, traditions, culture and way of life). However, such a wide field of activity of this science exists mainly in the countries of the Western world. In the CIS, this knowledge covers several industries. In addition to anthropology, ethnography and archeology are involved.

Specifically, this science in our understanding deals more with evolution and temporal-spatial differences of the physical type of man. So, let's figure it out in order.

Archeology is a science that studies material historical sources. Her sphere of interest includes several research groups:

- Settlements (here also includes dwellings). They are divided into fortified (more often called hillforts) and unfortified (settlements). It can be cities and fortresses, camps and agricultural or craft settlements, marching camps of armies and fortified castles.

Most of these monuments are static, they are constantly (and were) in one place. However, parking lots and other temporary settlements often do not have the same location. Therefore, their detection is mainly a matter of chance.

- Ancient fortresses are usually found on the remains of walls and walls. In general, most of the work of the archaeologist takes place in the archive. Here is information in various written sources - from legends and epics to reports of scientific intelligence. By the way, legends play a significant role. Troy was discovered by Heinrich Schliemann precisely because of the exact following of the "Iliad" of Homer.

- The next place where the material sources of history are well preserved, strange as it may seem, are burials. Under a layer of earth in the dry regions of the planet, some objects can lie for thousands of years and retain their shape. More wet places, of course, will destroy many materials. However, for example, some types of wood in the water are petrified.

So, in the burials, archaeologists find not only objects of everyday life of ancient people, but also various elements that speak about beliefs, rituals, the social structure of society and so on.

- Also to the monuments are ritual places (sanctuaries, temples) and workshops. If you know how to interpret the finds, you can get a lot of interesting and important information.

- The latest, but no less important complex are random findings. Everything - from treasures to a casually lost button - can tell a professional researcher about the past.

As we have seen, most knowledge about ancient societies is material. Sources of information on the history of mankind reach our time not always intact, so archaeologists and anthropologists often have to seek help from restorers, who help them restore the original appearance of objects.

Ethnography

In the Soviet era it was a separate science, today it is more often regarded as anthropological components. She studies (more precisely, describes) the peoples of the world. The data with which anthropology works is not only material sources. Examples of intangible monuments are songs and oral legends. Many tribes simply do not have written language, and such information is passed from parents to children from mouth to mouth.

Therefore, ethnographers often work not as researchers, but as collectors and keepers of various traditions of the peoples of the world. If you look at the records of the Spaniards and Portuguese XV - XVI centuries, you will be surprised. So many of the things described and phenomena no longer exist.

Tribes are destroyed, assimilated (which means that one of the original cultures is lost). Due to globalization, differences between peoples are blurred. Even languages can disappear. And if they were not written down, then no one else will ever know about them.

What does ethnography offer us? What are the material sources? Photos, audio recordings of songs, video rites, written fixation of different spheres of people's life - all this is studied and compared.

Similar descriptions began to be made a long time ago, but in the ancient world they were more like fairy tales with an incredible amount of speculation. And only in the late Middle Ages there are researchers who compare the life of ancient people and the life of remote tribes, for example, Indians, Australian aborigines, Bushmen and other hunter gatherers.

It turns out that by observing the life of the nationalities standing on the stage of "pre-civilization" in its modern understanding, we can find out what kind of relations were in the stone, copper, bronze, iron centuries.

An important point is that in the school with children, material sources are analyzed (examples). Grade 5 is the time to study the traditions of your people and a gradual transition to general information about the formation of mankind.

Epigraphy

The second most abundant material from which we can learn about ancient people is written and painted material sources - pictures, chronicles, memoirs, clay tablets, petroglyphs, hieroglyphs, birch bark letters.

It is possible to enumerate the ways in which humanity used to save information. Without them, we would not have the slightest idea of the events of the past. This can be said with complete certainty, since archaeological finds simply can not provide as much information as is contained in one, even the shortest note.

One of the most ancient studies that have come down to us is the well-known "History" of Herodotus. It dates from the fifth century BC. One of the first memoirs was written by Gaius Julius Caesar. Their name is "Notes on the Gallic War".
But in general, biographies and memories are more characteristic of the Renaissance.

Of course, written monuments are very rich in information, but there are some disadvantages.

First, the data in them relate to five thousand years of human history maximum. What was previously, or not fixed, or not deciphered.

Second - tendentiousness and special attention to the upper strata with almost complete ignoring of the common people.

Third, the bulk of the ancient texts are known to us in the form of translations and copied copies. The originals of the unit. In addition, new income is not expected. But archaeological material sources people find regularly.

The complex of sciences that study written monuments includes various disciplines. The first, which is worth mentioning, is paleography. It collects and decodes ancient alphabets, fonts, writing methods. In general, without her efforts, scientists could not work with texts in a qualitative way.

The next science is numismatics. She works with inscriptions on coins and banknotes (subsection - bonistic). Papirology studies the information available in papyrus scrolls.

However, the most authentic are the household inscriptions. They are short and do not contain bragging and exaggeration.

Thus, we have analyzed with you the sciences that study material sources, what it is, what kinds of monuments exist, how they work with them. Next, let's talk about materials relating to the three most vivid epochs in the history of mankind - Ancient Greece, Rome and the Middle Ages.

Written sources of Ancient Greece

As we said above, information about the past is contained in many artifacts. However, the most informative are the inscriptions or records.

The period of antiquity in general and Ancient Greece in particular are marked by the emergence of scientists and researchers. The beginnings of most sciences, which are successfully developing today, are rooted in this era.

So, what are the real sources of the history of Hellas to us? We will talk about everyday objects only later, and now we will plunge into the world of ancient Greek literature.

The most ancient are the records of Hecataeus of Miletus. He was a logographer, described the history and culture of his city and the neighboring policies on which he traveled. The second known researcher was Gellanik of Mytilene. His works have reached us in fragmentary records and do not carry great historical value. In the works of logographers, legends and fiction are often intertwined with reality, and they are difficult to separate.

The first reliable historian was Herodotus. In the 5th century BC he wrote a multivolume work "History". They attempted to explain why the war between the Persians and the Greeks began. For this, he refers to the history of all the peoples that were included in the data of the empire.

The second in chronological order was Thucydides. In his works he tried to explain the causes, course and consequences of the Peloponnesian War. The merit of this Greek is that he did not address the "divine providence" in order to explain the causes of what is happening, like Herodotus. He traveled to memorable places, policies, talked with participants and eyewitnesses, which made it possible to write truly scientific work.

Thus, written material sources are not only hypotheses, ideological intrigues or political propaganda. Among them, quite often there are founding works.

Next, we will consider the archaeological sites of this era.

Material culture of Hellas

Today, the study of ancient states occupies one of the leading places among the fields of research in archeology. Many universities began to study Greece at the end of the XIX century, and today there are entire schools in the Balkans, engaged in the development of techniques and in-depth research.

During this century, there was a wealth of experience and factual material on the history of the Balkan policies, such as Delphi, Athens, Sparta, the islands and the Malaysian coast (Pergamum, Troy, Miletus).

Domestic scientists since the time of the Russian Empire were engaged in the consideration of the colony towns of the northern Black Sea region. The most famous are such policies as Olbia, Panticapaeum, Chersonesus Tavrichesky, Tanais and others.

During the years of research, a lot of material was accumulated - coins, jewelry, weapons, inscriptions on hard material (stone, clay, gems), remains of structures and so on.

All these material sources on the history of ancient Greece allow us to imagine the way of life, life, occupation of the Hellenes. We know about hunting and feasts, because such scenes were often depicted on the vessels. By coins, one can judge the appearance of some rulers, city coats of arms, relations between policies.

Seals and inscriptions on vessels, houses, things also tell a lot about this era.
Finds related to the ancient world (Egypt, ancient states, Mesopotamia) are some of the most beautiful. After the fall of Rome, the era of decline began, when beauty was no longer valued, so the beginning of the Middle Ages was marked by coarser things.

Next, we will talk about one of the strongest states of the ancient world - the Roman Empire.

Written sources of ancient Rome

If the Greeks were more inclined to philosophy, meditation, study, the Romans aspired to military victories, conquests and holidays. No wonder the saying "bread and circuses" (namely, they demanded plebs from the emperors) survived to the present day.

So, this stern and warlike people left us numerous material sources. These are cities and roads, household items and weapons, coins and jewelry. But all this would not have given a hundredth part of what we know about Rome, if not for the written monuments of culture.

At our disposal is a diverse material, so researchers can thoroughly get acquainted with the majority of the facets of Roman life.

The first surviving records tell us about weather conditions, harvests. They also contain the hymns of the priests. In general, materials relating to early history and reached us are presented in a poetic form.

Publius Scivolla wrote the "Great Annals" of eighty books. Polybius and Diodorus of Sicily were noted by works on forty volumes. But Titus Livy surpassed all. He wrote the history of the city of Rome from the foundation to his present. This work resulted in 142 books.

Speakers and poets, generals and philosophers - all tried to leave a memory of themselves for posterity.

Today you will be able to discover in almost all social spheres the influence that Roman material sources have had. Examples relate to the field of jurisprudence, medicine, military affairs, etc.

Monuments of the material culture of Ancient Rome

No less fascinating material are archaeological finds made in all parts of the once huge empire. The space from the Atlantic Ocean to the east to Central Asia, Europe and North Africa - all this once was within the borders of one state.

Material sources on the history of ancient Rome illustrate to us the era of great achievements, gains and no less immorality, especially in large cities.
Thanks to the finds it became known that Italy was inhabited since the Paleolithic period. Pile settlements and parking with stone tools of labor do not leave in it a single drop of doubt.

No less interesting layer of the pre-Roman period is the Etruscan era. A highly developed culture, the carriers of which were subsequently conquered and assimilated by the Romans.

Gold plates with texts say that the Etruscans maintained peaceful relations with Greek policies and Carthage.

The Roman forum, roads and aqueducts are breathtaking today, what about the time when they were not in ruins ?!

This is only part of what the material sources reveal to us about the past.
The most famous monument is undoubtedly Pompeii. The city died overnight due to the eruption of Vesuvius, which is nearby. Thanks to many tons of ashes, scientists have discovered well-preserved remains of residents and stunning interiors of Roman manors. In them, only a little faded paint! Today you can stroll through the streets of the ancient city, with a head to plunge into the atmosphere of that time.

Medieval sources

These are the "dark" centuries, during which mankind came to the senses from the decline after the fall of the ancient states.

The material sources of the Middle Ages can be divided into several groups.
To the first, undoubtedly, the largest and most noticeable are cities, fortifications, fortresses.

Further, there are monuments bearing a lot of information, namely - written evidence of the era. They include annals, annals, musical notes of hymns, decrees of rulers and working documentation of artisans, merchants, etc.

However, the material sources of the Middle Ages are not as numerous as we would like. About the fifth to the ninth centuries, there were practically no written references. Most of the information about this time we get from legends, legends.

A humid climate, a low level of production, an actual return to the primitive communal system did their job. The findings look horrific, if you compare the ancient monuments and material sources of the Middle Ages. Photos of museum exhibits confirm this fact.

The peculiarity of the epoch was that the peoples inhabiting the outskirts of the Roman Empire were illiterate. Their customs, they passed from grandfathers to grandchildren in oral form. At the same time, records were kept mainly by the descendants of noble patricians or monks, often in Latin or Greek. National languages break into books only at the end of this period.

We do not have all the information about the social status of the tribes of the early Middle Ages. No technology, no social life, no class structure, no worldview - nothing can be restored to its full extent.

Basically, the findings can be understood only with beliefs, military and craft spheres. Only three of these areas illuminate the found material sources of the Middle Ages. Examples can be cited from the field of legends, legends, weapons and tools with names, as well as burials.

In the article, we have dealt with such a difficult concept as monuments of material culture, learned about the sciences that study such finds, and also considered several examples from two historical periods.