History is the study of the human past. Many experts help us learn about it — geologists study the Earth's physical features, palaeontologists study fossils, anthropologists study human societies and cultures, and archaeologists dig up remains such as tools, pots and bones. Time in history is measured using the Gregorian calendar, with years counted as CE (Common Era, formerly AD) and BCE (Before Common Era, formerly BC); since there is no ‘year zero’, the years between a BCE and a CE date are found by adding them and subtracting one. Longer durations are measured in decades, centuries (100 years) and millenniums (1,000 years). A timeline arranges events in order so we can see their sequence. Historians use many sources — archaeological (tools, pottery, monuments), literary (Vedas, epics, travelogues), inscriptions, artistic sources and oral traditions — and cross-check them like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Modern humans (Homo sapiens) have lived for about 300,000 years. Early humans lived in bands as hunter-gatherers, used fire and tools, and left rock paintings. After the last Ice Age ended around 12,000 years ago, people began settling near rivers, cultivating crops and domesticating animals, leading to villages, towns, pottery and the use of metals.
Experts who study the pastMeasuring historical time (CE, BCE, centuries, millenniums)The timeline as a toolSources of historyEarly humans and the first crops
Key terms
History
The study of the human past, reconstructed from many kinds of sources.
Archaeologist
A person who studies the past by digging up and examining remains such as tools, pots and bones.
CE and BCE
Common Era (formerly AD) for years after the conventional date of Jesus' birth, and Before Common Era (formerly BC) for years before it.
Millennium
A period of 1,000 years; specific millenniums are counted from the year 1 CE.
Timeline
A tool that arranges dates and events in order to show their sequence over a period.
Source of history
A place, person, text or object from which we gather information about the past.
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