Question

What limits do artifacts on American civilizations pre-1600 have as historical sources?

Answer 1

The correct answer to this open question is the following.

The limits that artifacts on American civilizations pre-1600 have as historical sources are that the artifacts found in different locations cannot definitely establish a conclusion about the location of the Native American tribes or the type of society they lived in. Another issue is the fact that these tribes did not leave written documents that could be validated. They had oral traditions that were passed through generations. It was until the English colonists arrived at the North American region that historians could have better records to know what happened at that time.

Answer 2

Answer:

The answer is below

Explanation:

Making use of Artifacts can be helpful in giving historical evidence or information, however, examining artifacts has its limitations on historical sources

Some of these limitations includes the following:

1. Analysis of Artifacts is not exact science: Often times, there exist subjective elements in the analysis and interpretation of the artifacts as different people, using the same artifact, may reach different conclusions

2. Often times, there is contradicting evidence: There are situation in which an artifact will yield evidence which contradicts with other findings that have been made on that artifact or similar artifacts.

3. Misidentification of Artifacts: There is possibility that a particular artifact has been misidentified.

4. Changes in Interpretation of the Evidence: There are situations in which the original interpretation of artifact was later changed. Thus, further investigation has caused a reversal of what was originally interpreted.

Summarily, Artifacts are limited as sources of history on America civilization pre 1600 due to lack of real use visualization and inaccurate placement. Often times, it is difficult to see how they were actually utilized and the place where we found them might not be the place where they were built or used.