Social History

Your assignment is to write a 3-5-page “social history” of these objects. In other words, you need to explain, using reason, prior knowledge and research, what these objects were, how they were used, and how they might have shaped the experiences of the people who produced or came in contact with them. For the sake of narrative flow, you should imagine that YOU found these items somewhere and briefly describe the circumstances under which this occurred. This fictional element of the paper, though not unimportant, should not be the focus of your energy. The bulk of the paper should concentrate on finding historically plausible answers to the following questions:

1.) Where and when were these objects produced?

2.) What were/are they? What were they used for? By whom?

3.) What do these items reveal about the world that produced them? How might they have shaped the everyday lives of the people who came into contact with them?

4.) Do you think you can tell anything about the politics of the time from these things? Explain.