social studies

academic investigation of what people do in groups

history

study of the past

artifact

object that reveals something about humans

big history

studying the past on a universal scale

prehistory

the time before writing

(term only used by some historians)

Big Bang

event theorized to have created the universe

spacetime

the four dimensions theorized as a single concept

redshift

physics phenomenon—

 an object's color changes as it moves farther away

historical actor

something that changes history by doing something

agency

something's ability to make choices and act independently

scale

degree of magnification or perspective

used to measure time and space

threshold

 moment when something new appears or changes that can't be turned back

oral history

record of the past passed down through spoken word

historicity

the quality of being part of history

or being historically accurate

collective learning

ability of humans to accumulate

and transmit information from others

hominins

humans' closest ancestors—different from other apes

bipedalism

ability to move on two feet

revolution

a dramatic, often sudden change in life

and social structures

Neolithic Revolution

development of settled agriculture

starting approximately 12,000 years ago

anthropocentrism

the belief that humans are the center of the universe

primary source

an original source created at the time being studied

secondary source

a source that discusses a specific history

—usually analyzes primary sources

tertiary source

a general information source

—usually summarizes secondary sources

social

relating to a society (culture, religion, relationships)

political

relating to the government of a society and how people are part of it (laws, who has power, etc.)

economic

relating to the production and distribution of resources

in a society (money, goods, etc.)

antiquity

time of early civilizations

middle ages

time between antiquity and modernity

(sometimes called the "Dark Ages")

modernity

our present time of rising global interconnections

polytheism

belief in many gods

henotheism

belief that many gods may exist,

but only one should be worshipped

monotheism

belief in only one god

atheism

lack of belief in any gods

counterfactual

a "what if" question historians ask

to help think about the past