Visual Sources as Historical Evidence
This exercise will help you to understand how historians use visual images to interpret the past before written history.
What evidence in the painting is there of pastoralism?
What other observations might be drawn from this image (think about gender roles, religious rituals, and technology)?
The attribution indicates this image to be from the Sahara desert, produced around 6000 years ago. Other rock art found in this same location—the Tassili Plateau—shows giraffes, savanna-like vegetation, and wells. What conclusions might you make about how the climate has changed in this area since that time?
What can you tell about natural resources (vegetation, animals, water, sources of food, clothing, shelter) from viewing these images?
What claims can you make about economics (e.g., how they made a living)?
What evidence is there of each society’s culture (art, religion, values)?