Introduction and Course Documents: Oral Histories and Archaeology as History

This week we'll be looking at content from around the globe to explore the roots of modern civilizations in areas which did not leave a written record until the early modern period. This means that instead of reviewing a single textbook chapter, we'll be jumping around the textbook.  Please be sure to carefully review the course calendar for information about which sections correspond to this week's content. Conversely, you can use the PDF in this module as it has been edited to include this module's content. 

As we've seen over the past six modules, in much of the world written language was adopted centuries before the common era. However, this was not true everywhere. In places like Oceania and the Americas written language was not commonly adopted prior to the early modern period (and was often linked to colonization). Societies of Subsaharan and West Africa did develop early systems of writing but these have largely been ignored by historians and anthropologists from the west.  With that in mind, this week we'll be focusing on how the historical record is uncovered without written sources. In particular, we'll be considering the use of oral histories and archaeology to uncover the past. 

Course Documents: 

This week's course documents ask you to consider the transformation of Andean and American ancient culture through recent (25 years) research.  

NPR on Norte Chico "To Build An Empire, Hold The Anchovies"  Download NPR on Norte Chico "To Build An Empire, Hold The Anchovies" 

Peruvian tourism site on Norte Chico and Caral Links to an external site.