Documenting United States History

TopIC I | the Diverse Societies of native america 5

Identify: When historians examine documents or artifacts, they need to identify

details that may be relevant to their research. Describe this necklace, taking care to

identify details that you think are relevant to events of this era.

After identification comes analysis, which is the process of rereading the text to

determine key features of the text’s creation, organization, and style. You also may take

into account what you know about the writer or artist and the intended audience. Histo-

rians must do more than just identify details. They must offer some analysis of the item

within the context of the time and place in which it originated, as in this next question:

Analyze: If frogs represented fertility for the Aztecs, why might a high-status Aztec

want to wear these symbolic objects?

Finally, a historian must consider the meaning of the object or document and

assess its historical significance. In this process, called evaluation, the reader makes

an informed judgment about the text. Evaluation often depends on additional read-

ing experiences, which you used in your assessment of the text, as in this question:

Evaluate: How did the natural environment contribute to the development of this

artifact?

Document 1.2 Ruins of the Pueblo Town of Cicuique

New Mexico, 16th century

The pueblo of Cicuique, whose ruins are photographed below, housed two thousand

residents who grew corn, beans, and squash and traded goods with neighboring towns.

The residents lived in an arid climate and practiced a type of farming that required very

little water. The town was fortified and contained five hundred warriors who defended the

town from the nomadic tribes of the Great Plains. The ruins are located in New Mexico.

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