QCAA Ancient History cheat sheet

Unit 3 studies the nature of ancient sources and the reconstruction of past societies; key skills are source classification (primary/secondary, written/non-written, archaeological/literary) and evaluation of reliability, bias, provenance and corroboration.

Chronological conventions: BC dates count backwards (larger number = earlier); there is no year zero. Convert BC to negative years and AD to positive for interval arithmetic (e.g. 44 BC to AD 14 = 57 years).

Source types to distinguish: literary (histories, biographies, speeches, letters), documentary (inscriptions, papyri, coins, legal texts), and material/archaeological (buildings, artefacts, human remains, stratigraphy). Each answers different questions.

Reliability decision rule: assess (1) authorship and date, (2) proximity to events, (3) purpose and audience, (4) corroboration by independent sources, (5) survival and transmission bias. A single uncorroborated source supports only a tentative claim.

Primary vs secondary: a primary source originates in the period studied or by a direct witness; a secondary source interprets primary material later. Translations and later copies are mediated evidence, not originals.

Stratigraphy and context: artefacts gain meaning from their deposition layer and association; disturbed contexts weaken dating claims. Relative dating (sequence) differs from absolute dating (radiocarbon, dendrochronology, historical synchronisms).

Epigraphic and numismatic evidence: inscriptions preserve official/public statements (decrees, dedications, epitaphs) but are biased toward elites and durability; coins give dating, iconography, propaganda and economic data.

Key ancient societies commonly studied include Bronze Age Aegean and Near Eastern states, classical Athens and Republican/Imperial Rome; compare political structures, social hierarchies, economy, religion and warfare using multiple source types.

Cause and consequence: distinguish short-term triggers from long-term structural causes (e.g. economic strain, factional politics, military pressure) and evaluate intended versus unintended consequences of events or reforms.

Unit 4 examines individuals, groups, institutions and significant events; core skill is evaluating competing interpretations and constructing an evidence-based argument with explicit source referencing.

Leadership analysis framework: assess a figure's accession basis (inheritance, election, military support, coup), power base, reforms, opposition, legacy and the reliability of surviving accounts (often elite or hostile).

Historiographical awareness: ancient authors (e.g. Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy, Tacitus, Plutarch) have identifiable methods, biases and rhetorical aims; later historians reinterpret them. Compare interpretations rather than treating one as fact.

Conflict analysis: identify belligerents, stated and underlying motives, resources, alliances, strategy, turning points and outcomes; distinguish contemporary justification from later explanation.

Institutional change rule: a reform is significant if it alters who holds power, how decisions are made, or how resources and status are distributed; test by comparing before-and-after evidence.

Women, slaves and non-elites are underrepresented in elite literary sources; use material evidence (inscriptions, graves, domestic space, graffiti) and documentary texts to recover their roles and agency.

Chronology and causation in events: build timelines from multiple sources, note discrepancies, and separate proximate causes from structural causes; avoid single-cause explanations where evidence is contested.

Evaluation of significance: judge an event or individual by breadth (how many affected), depth (how profoundly), duration (how long-lasting) and contemporary versus later perceptions.

Argument structure for extended responses: state a thesis, support with specific sourced evidence, address counter-evidence or alternative interpretations, and conclude by weighing the evidence rather than merely summarising.