Evidence for Greek and Roman Life · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Piecing Together the Ancient World

History · Ancient Greece & Rome · ages 9-11
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What buried the Roman town of Pompeii and helped preserve it?

    • A flood of river water
    • Ash from a volcano eruption
    • A fire started by soldiers

  2. Which of these is a type of evidence historians use to learn about ancient Rome?

    • A coin dug up from Roman times
    • A movie made last year about Rome
    • A guess with no facts to back it up

  3. Historians can learn about ancient Rome from written texts as well as from objects.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. A painted Greek pot shows a woman at a loom. One historian says it shows a daily chore. Another says it shows a myth about a goddess weaving. What does this show?

    • The same evidence can be interpreted in more than one way
    • One of the historians must be lying
    • Pottery paintings are never useful evidence

  5. Why do historians trust Pliny the Younger's letter about the Vesuvius eruption?

    • He read about it in a book many years later
    • He guessed what probably happened
    • He watched it happen and wrote it down at the time

  6. Look at the row of evidence cards: Pottery, Coins, Inscriptions, Ruins, Texts. How many kinds of evidence are shown?

    PotteryCoinsInscriptionsRuinsTexts

    Answer: ______________

  7. A historian studies a Roman coin showing a ruler's face. What is the best reason two historians might disagree about what the coin means?

    • Only the person who found the coin can be right about it
    • Old coins have no meaning at all
    • Ancient objects can reasonably be read in more than one way

  8. Ben says Pompeii is valuable because Romans wrote a lot of books there. What is wrong with Ben's idea?

    • Pompeii is not actually a real Roman site
    • Pompeii is valuable because ash preserved buildings and objects, not because of books written there
    • Ash makes it harder for historians to learn about Rome
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Piecing Together the Ancient World W1-mt_N1744276Zu-s1

  1. Ash from a volcano eruption · Vesuvius erupted in the year 79 and buried Pompeii in hot ash.
  2. A coin dug up from Roman times · Coins, pottery, inscriptions, and ruins are all real objects the Romans left behind.
  3. True · Writers like Homer and Pliny left texts that add to what objects like pottery and coins can tell us.
  4. The same evidence can be interpreted in more than one way · Historians can look at the same picture and reach different, reasonable conclusions.
  5. He watched it happen and wrote it down at the time · Pliny saw the eruption himself, so his letter is a first-hand written account.
  6. 5 · Count each card: pottery, coins, inscriptions, ruins, texts. That is five kinds of evidence.
  7. Ancient objects can reasonably be read in more than one way · Interpreting evidence takes judgment, so thoughtful historians can reach different conclusions from the same object.
  8. Pompeii is valuable because ash preserved buildings and objects, not because of books written there · It is the ash-sealed buildings and everyday objects that make Pompeii so valuable, not writing done in the town.
Worksheet · LightMySky