When Does World History Begin? (And Why Should We Care?)

Advances in evidence and understanding challenge the conventional view that history begins with written records. Nonliterate societies and unlettered social classes, not just the literate élite, are now standard subjects of historical inquiry. Moreover, advances in archaeology and other disciplines...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Northrup, David 1941- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2003
In: History compass
Year: 2003, Volume: 1, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-8
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:Advances in evidence and understanding challenge the conventional view that history begins with written records. Nonliterate societies and unlettered social classes, not just the literate élite, are now standard subjects of historical inquiry. Moreover, advances in archaeology and other disciplines have made ‘prehistory’ knowable. Advocates of ‘Big History’ start history with the Big Bang, but a less radical beginning is the point at which humans first began to display modern esthetic and intellectual traits - a point that now seems to coincide with the evolution of biologically modern humans.
ISSN:1478-0542
Contains:Enthalten in: History compass
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/1478-0542.032