Part 1: The Descriptive
Begin with a brief (~1 page) description of the technology you have selected and the specific artifact(s) you have chosen to represent that technology. The description section should answer questions about:
The origins of the technology and artifact(s): Where was the artifact produced, and by whom (to the best of current knowledge)? How was it made (using what materials and techniques)? Is it a copy of a text (one of many), or is it a unique artifact (the only of its kind)?
The relationship between the technology and its culture of origin. What were the artifact’s original functions and uses? How did this type of communication technology benefit its users?
Part 2: The Analytical
Once you have described your communication technology, provide a 3-4 page analysis that helps us understand this form of communication in a little more context. Your analysis will be historiographic in nature. This means that you will need to examine how historians have studied your artifact or others like it, and the implications of that study on our broader understanding of the technology and its original culture.
To conduct a historiographic analysis, you will need to consult at least three sources that attempt to “tell the history” of your chosen technology and/or artifacts. Be on the lookout for points of disagreement: where are scholars conflicted? Where do the narratives diverge? How have various the historical records of this technology affected the way we understand the cultures from which it originated?
To get started, consider where you located the artifact you described in Part 1. Is it in a museum exhibit or archival collection? If so, consult the collection’s finding aid, “About” page, or curatorial statement to get a sense of how the artifacts within it create a narrative about a historical time period or cultural context. How do your artifacts contribute to that narrative? Then, consult at least two other sources (these can be articles we have read in class or texts you find on your own, but they should be scholarly in nature, and they must make some kind of argument about the history of the communication technology you are studying).
Recommended Topics
These are the suggested communication technologies for Micro-History 1. You can choose from the list of suggestions below, or you can identify another communication technology and propose it to your instructor.
Cave paintings
Cuneiform clay tablets
Papyrus scrolls
Medieval manuscripts
Wax tablets
Graffiti or other forms of street art (yarn bombing, sticker art, etc.)
Monuments or memorials (e.g., Behistun monument; Vietnam War Memorial)
Tattoos
Silk scrolls
Ostraka
Tsunami stones