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While the study of History has uncovered much information on historic societies by studying the written records that those societies left behind, historical archaeology remains an indispensable method of inquiry to supplement, corroborate, and at times overturn the findings inferred from the documentary record. One problem with the written record is that ancient records do not cover all topics equally. Also, the written record is often Biased . Literacy was often limited to the upper classes, such as the Clergy and Aristocracy . The general population produced few records of its own, and those that it did were less likely to be preserved. The literate classes were primarily concerned with recording their own interests. Furthermore, many topics of interest to Scholars , such as Economic History and Religious History , were widely taken for granted and thus not described in records. Not all records written in antiquity have been preserved. For example, much knowledge of the Roman Empire was lost during the early Middle Ages because Europeans had yet to take a renewed interest in their ancestors. Additionally, many of the ancient records that have survived are not Primary Sources ; For example, the works of Aristobulus , the historian who accompanied Alexander The Great on his campaigns, were mostly destroyed within a few centuries and supplanted by the writings of later scholars who used him as a source. Finally, written sources are not always trustworthy. Those who write history usually have some personal involvement in it, and they may distort the truth (whether Consciously or Unconsciously ) to cast themselves in a more positive light. On the other hand, it is practically impossible to systematically distort the archaeological record so as to imply events that never occurred. External links: Further reading: |