Investigating the Ancient World
Unit Description
This unit involves an investigation of how the ancient world has been represented. This involves an exploration of the remaining sources and how they have been interpreted. This unit focuses on issues relevant to the investigation of the ancient world and builds on the historical skills developed in the Foundation to Year 10 curriculum to develop an introduction to historiography. Students will study at least TWO issues related to evidence including the authentication, preservation, ownership and/or display of material from the ancient world. Students also study how evidence has been used in interpretations and representations of ONE ancient site, event or change, individual or group through to modern times.
This study provides an opportunity to explore key artefacts, events, legends, personalities and controversies of the ancient world, focusing on an analysis and evaluation of the differing ways in which they have been interpreted and represented from ancient to modern times. Students investigate the past through an examination of issues relevant to the nature of the evidence including the ethical practice, ownership and representation of the ancient world. The key conceptual understandings of this unit include: the reliability and usefulness of sources, custodianship of the past, interpretations and representations.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit, students:
Unit Description
This unit involves an investigation of how the ancient world has been represented. This involves an exploration of the remaining sources and how they have been interpreted. This unit focuses on issues relevant to the investigation of the ancient world and builds on the historical skills developed in the Foundation to Year 10 curriculum to develop an introduction to historiography. Students will study at least TWO issues related to evidence including the authentication, preservation, ownership and/or display of material from the ancient world. Students also study how evidence has been used in interpretations and representations of ONE ancient site, event or change, individual or group through to modern times.
This study provides an opportunity to explore key artefacts, events, legends, personalities and controversies of the ancient world, focusing on an analysis and evaluation of the differing ways in which they have been interpreted and represented from ancient to modern times. Students investigate the past through an examination of issues relevant to the nature of the evidence including the ethical practice, ownership and representation of the ancient world. The key conceptual understandings of this unit include: the reliability and usefulness of sources, custodianship of the past, interpretations and representations.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit, students:
- understand the nature of evidence of the ancient past (of a site, event or change, individual or group) and issues relating to the reliability and usefulness of the evidence in interpreting, and constructing representations of that past
- understand issues related to the ownership, custodianship, preservation and display of material from the ancient past
- apply key concepts as part of a historical inquiry, including evidence, perspectives, interpretation, and representation
- use historical skills to investigate different representations of the ancient world, and use a range of evidence to support and communicate a historical explanation or argument.
Historical knowledge and understanding
Students investigate the significant issues related to at least TWO of the following topics:
Students investigate the significant issues related to at least TWO of the following topics:
- Historical authentication and reliability
- Preservation, conservation, and/or reconstruction of ancient sites
- Cultural heritage, ownership and the role of museums
- Treatment and display of human remains
Students study how at least ONE ancient site, event or change, individual or group
chosen from the following topic electives, has been interpreted and represented:
Ancient Site
Ancient Thera (Santorini) Masada |
Events and Changes
The Battle of Kadesh The destruction of Troy The ‘Fall’ of the Roman Empire in the West The Roman Games |
Individual
Alexander the Great Cleopatra Cao Cao |
Group
The Celts The Early Christians |
Students study at least TWO of the following
which are to be taught with the requisite historical skills described at the start of this unit:
Historical authentication and reliability
Historical authentication and reliability
- How evidence from the ancient world has been lost, destroyed and re-discovered
- Problems of authenticity, including the identification and origin of ancient artefacts, human remains and documents; and the reliability of ancient writers who did not witness the events they describe
- Methods of authentication, including scientific and comparative dating techniques for documents and objects and cross-referencing of ancient sources
- Ancient sources that have been deemed to be fakes or forgeries over time and the difficulties of authentication associated with these sources
- The motivations of the perpetrators of fakes and forgeries, and the significance of the evidence they were intended to provide about the ancient past
- The nature of the site/s, and the condition and extent of the remains
- Issues of conservation and preservation of the site/s, including factors which threaten the integrity or survival of the ancient site (for example environmental factors, war, terrorism, pillaging, poverty)
- The effectiveness/appropriateness of methods used to preserve, conserve and/or reconstruct the site/s, including relevant national or international charters or conventions (for example, UNESCO) and international efforts to protect ancient sites of world heritage significance
- The reconstructions of the ancient site/s, for example paintings, historical fiction, film, documentaries, museum displays, and virtual worlds; and use for propaganda.
- The nature and significance of the cultural property for the society to which it belongs
- The arguments for and against the return of the cultural property to its original home
- The nature and impact of looting and the illegal trade of antiquities on cultural heritage
- The role of museums in acquiring, collecting, and storing artefacts/cultural materials
- The contributions of museums to our understanding of ancient ways of life and the question of whose past is represented in museum displays and exhibitions
- The condition of the human remains and how they were preserved, discovered and/or removed from where they were found
- The methods and results of scientific analysis (forensic techniques) and modern preservation of the remains
- The significance of the human remains for an understanding of the life and times in which they lived, including the social status of individuals, the beliefs and practices of the society, the health of ancient populations, and the nature of the environment
- The ethical issues relevant to the treatment, display and ownership of the remains, for example the use of invasive methods of scientific analysis