This week in History, we have continued our learning about Ancient Greece. Earlier in the week, we explored two of the most famous Greek city-states: Athens and Sparta. We compared their similarities and differences, discussing everything from education and government to daily life and military training. After weighing up the evidence, we decided which city-state we would prefer to live in and explained our reasons.
Today, we became history detectives and investigated an ancient Greek artefact. Our challenge was to answer the question: How much information can we gather from a single artefact?
Using only a photograph of an ancient vase, we carefully observed what we could see and recorded our ideas. We looked for clues, made inferences, asked questions and considered whose perspective might be represented. We also thought about the limitations of the artefact and what it could not tell us about life in Ancient Greece.
There were lots of interesting observations and theories. Some of us noticed a figure carrying a shield and spear, while others spotted athletes taking part in a sporting event. We used these clues to make educated guesses about the purpose of the object and the people who may have used it.
After completing our investigation, we discovered that the artefact was a Panathenaic amphora, a special prize vase awarded to winning athletes at one of Athens’ most important sporting and religious festivals. This helped us to see how much information historians can gather from artefacts, but also how important it is to ask questions and consider different perspectives when studying the past.
We thoroughly enjoyed putting our detective skills to the test and discovering how a single object can reveal so much about Ancient Greek life.
If you were a historian, what questions would you still want to ask about the artefact after studying it?
Why is that handless woman holding a sword and a shield?
THIS WAS SO FUN! Thank you, Miss! I was curious about how the woman was holding things with improper hands.
I really enjoyed that activity thank you so much Miss! It was really fun and if I was a historian I would want to know who the creator was and a lot more about them. Once again thank you !
I really liked learning about this
I would ask why it was made.
I really liked learning about this.
i enjoyed history. I enjoyed finding different things about the pictures and finding about what it actually was at the end
love history cant wait for learning about ww2.
If I was a historian I would want to ask who made the artefact and why.I would also want to know the purpose of it however I would only ask these questions after I made my own predictions.This is because I wouldn’t really be a good historian and I would feel I was cheating in my job.
i had soooooo many questions about the pot.I can’t believe it was Athena.
It was especially fun to do this activity! I loved finding things I didn’t understand.
THANK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!
One question that I would still ask about the vase that we studied is :
Where was the vase found?
Yesterday’s lesson was very fun and what we needed to do was compare the vase to our ideas.This could help us become historians one day too.This history lesson helped me to compare artefacts to what we know and what we don’t.
It was so fun! I love doing tasks for one lesson. We dived deep into the mystery of an old pot from Ancient Greece.
If l was a historian l would still ask about this artefact as there is still so much to know about this artefact. l thought it was Athena chasing or maybe training the three men .
Some questions l had were:
Why was Athena chasing the men?
Were the men running away or running in a race?
This was so fun. l loved trying to find out what it was used for !
if i were a historian i would ask:
Would they have many copies?
This was an interesting lesson.