Analysis of Historical Objects - Group 6

ANALYSIS OF

HISTORICAL OBJECTS

Sara Castro MARIONA ESQUERDA Bernat Fondevila EMMA MØLLER JØRGENSEN PAULA SALVÀ Rask Wanscher

Objective and subjective analysis

OUTLINE

1. Description of the object

2. Analysis of the object

4. Features of the object

3. Contextualization

5. Didactic usefulness

6. Online resources

DESCRIPTION OF THE OBJECT

Subjective analysis. What is this object for us? What did we think when we saw it for the 1st time?

BIGGER than the modern ones

Relevance of the AESTHETIC DETAILS even then

ANTIQUITY of the sewing technique

Sewing needle

MATERIAL used to create the needle innovative

ANALYSIS OF THE OBJECT

Size

4,8 x 0,7 x 0,3 cm

Objective analysis. Exhaustive description in view of different parameters.

Sketch

Utility

Sewing animal skins (producing small holes)

Description

Material

Decoration

Not really

Sheep bone

in spain

CONTEXT

• Final stage of cultural evolution: stone tools shaped by polishing or grinding
• Specialization in certain crafts (pottery or weaving)
• Cultivation of grain/corns to build permanent dwellings and congregate in villages
• Settling down to cultivate and breed the animals

Of what historical time/age is it? Which is its historical context?

Neolithic period

The name references the advances in technology:

• People transitioned from hunter-gatherers to farmers (Climate change favours agriculture)
• Animal domestication beginning
• Creation of small civilizations (from survival to sedentary lifestyle)
• Used to hunting and utility of the animal resources gathered

• Animal bones: primary source for tool production

The New Stone Age(12000 BC to 5000 BC)

Various prehistoric bone tools

Emergence of today's world pillars (whole revolution)

society

• Without a written language yet
• Symbols to communicate, such as cave paintings, religious artefacts, murals... Animist humans
• Clothing: the main piece was a tunic over the torso, tied with a belt.
• Gender roles: women as caretakers of children and houses; men as hunters and food producers

Sewing in the Neolithic period

DONE MANUALLY

• Probably done by hand
• In the Neolithic period the resources were scarce
• A pointed object - a rock, f. e. - was needed to make it softer and manipulate the needle
• Common technique: soak the bone in water to make it softer and more manageable

Where and when does the object refer to? How was it done (manually or industrially)? What category does it belong to?

Molí del salt, TARRAGONA

DAILY LIFE OBJECT

• Main utility: to sew
• Presumably, it facilitated their way of living
• Used to get clothes together and be protected from cold weather

What does it explain to us?

DIDACTic USEFULNESS

Following this line, we could talk about the importance of this object for the development of civilisations and cultures, such as the way they have influenced society and have made people’s life easier, helping mankind to evolve. Therefore, it could be worked the process of creation of an object, since first there is a necessity and man have to plan and brainstorm ideas, so as to look for a solution, which has to be realistic and possible to build it. Consequently, it could be also put into practise in the classroom, in order to promote a lived-experienced learning.

Which kind of historical topics or concepts can be worked from this object during Educació Primària?

Despite being a tiny object, it allows us to work on a large variety of historical topics and concepts during Primary School. To begin with, we could highlight the development of tools throughout history, since it would be interesting to compare the nowadays sewing needle with the ancient one and identify the differences, the similarities, the functions and what changes has this object undergone from its first model to the last one. Through this work, we could understand the evolution of the sewing needle, the reason why it was invented and what materials have been used during the different periods so as to create it. Therefore, different kinds of societies, historical civilisations and specific periods could be treated as well.

Finally, we could work on the development of textile objects throughout history, since when we learn the functions of the sewing needle, we will realize that it has been paramountly used for creating clothes. Thus, it could be suitable to study the evolution of clothing, fashion and trends during different periods; the kind of clothes and materials used to create them; the changes in the process of creation (machines, needles…); the function and importance given to clothes throughout historical ages; emblematic people in this sphere and so on.

Furthermore, the sewing needle could become an extremely useful resource to talk about gender roles during the neolithic period. On the one hand, we could work on the way the society used to divide the different tasks, emphasising specifically if men and women did the same activities or if they were different, which were the main roles of them and how they organised themselves. Then, following this pattern, we could compare it with other historical periods, so as to know deeply how women have been in charge of different activities that men have not done, how they have fought for their rights and what is women's situation nowadays.

Also working with objects, in this case sewing needles, can be an opportunity for the students to create their own item with different materials, such as mud or plasticine. That allows them to be able to understand the process of creation of the worked device, empathising with the studied society. Following this line, once finished the object, we can put this into practice, based on the traditional use it had. More specifically, thanks to the sewing needles we could try to sew some kind of clothes with our own creation and the object nowadays, letting students getting hands-on experience with physical tools better than just reading about it in a book. For that, we would give the students an insight to how difficult textile production was at the time, compared to modern sewing needles and machines. At last, we could create a safe environment for the students to tell their opinion about the activity they had done and how they felt, moreover the differences between both objects and which one we prefer and why.

DIDACTic USEFULNESS II

Thoughts on the usefulness of working with objects in class:

Research shows that children in the primary school age learn through play, imagination and visualisation. Working with objects when teaching in primary school could therefore be a useful and valuable teaching technique to visualise historical objects and, thereby, make it easier for the children to imagine how the living conditions were at a specific historical period. In this case, when seeing a sewing needle in class, they will be able to observe all the details and characteristics of this object and, therefore, they will be able to generate hypotheses and questions about why it was used, how it worked and how it was made. Consequently, students will have the opportunity to start working on the scientific method in a real and plausible way.

ONLINE RESOURCES

THE EDITORS OF ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA. (n.d.). Neolithic | Definition & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Neolithic VIOLATTI, C. (2018). Neolithic Period (April 02, 2018). World History Enciclopedia. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.worldhistory.org/Neolithic/ WATERS, T. The Stone Age: Writing & Communication. Study.com. Retrieved November 10, 2021, from https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-stone-age-writing-communication.html WORM, C., SANDHOLT, P. & SKOVSGAARD, C. Modern Gender Roles and Agricultural History: The Neolithic Inheritance (Nov 4, 2012). Social Science Research Network. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2170945

CARRETÓN, A. El Neolítico. Una de las etapas más determinantes de la historia. Patrimonio Inteligente. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://patrimoniointeligente.com/el-neolitico/ HISTORY.COM EDITORS. Neolithic Revolution (Jan 12, 2018). History.com. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.history.com/topics/pre-history/neolithic-revolution PANERA, J. Aguja de hueso del paleolítico: los inicios de la confección (January 2002). Museo Arqueológico Nacional. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from http://www.man.es/dam/jcr:246d9b8b-236e-4a1e-8875-0ce8deaa2e47/man-pieza-mes-2002-01-aguja-hueso.pdf ROOS, D. How Early Humans Survived the Ice Age (Jul 15, 2021). History.com. Retrieved November 15th, 2021 from https://www.history.com/news/ice-age-human-survival

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