Trusted since 2008
LoginRegister
Study resources on Kenyaplex

Get ready-made curriculum aligned revision materials

Exam papers, notes, holiday assignments and topical questions – all aligned to the Kenyan curriculum.

Browse exam papers
Or go directly to:
Class notes Holiday assignments Topical questions Other resources

Explain oral traditions, linguistics, anthropology and archaeology which are unwritten sources of information giving advantages and limitations in each

Explain oral traditions, linguistics, anthropology and archaeology which are unwritten sources of information giving advantages and limitations in each

Answers

Moraa
Unwritten sources.
Refers to historical information which is not recorded in writing. They are oral traditions, linguistics (language), anthropology (culture), archaeology, palaeontology and genetics.

1.Oral traditions: refers to the practice of handing down historical information by word of mouth from one generation to the next. It includes folktales, proverbs, songs and stories.

Advantages.
i.It is important in the study of pre-history.
ii.They integrate the study of history with other social studies.
iii.It is cheap.
iv.It compliments other sources of history

Limitations of oral tradition.
i.The information may be exaggerated as it’s difficult to distinguish between what was real from what was imagined.
ii.The information may be forgotten or omitted because it depends on human memory.
iii.information may deliberately conceal some important information. People tend to talk more of their successes than their failures.
iv.It may not provide dates and give correct chronology of events because it depends on human memory.
v.It is an expensive method of gathering information as one has to pay for the information’s transportation, lunch and accommodation.
iv.Its time consuming, one requires a lot of time to interview one individual.
v.The information may be biased.

2.Linguistics: refers to the scientific study of language. Historical linguistics is the study of language as it changes in the course of time. It traces the principles of language change and establishes the current genealogical classification of a particular language. The study of a language helps in discovering its content, form and vocabulary. It can tell us the historical experience of the people who speak it. People who speak related language may be assumed to have a common origin, be connected or had been in close contact sometimes backing in the past.

Advantages of linguistics
i.It gives information about the movement of people and their relationships. This assists experts in grouping languages correctly according to language families.
ii.Linguistics helps us understand communication better, as people with a common language may common origin.
iii.Language has enabled historical linguistics to discover links between different people which previously unknown.
iv.Language helps those using oral tradition to gather information from various sources.
v.Linguistics is useful in the dating of migration of people.

Limitations of linguistics.
i.It’s time consuming as it takes long to study a particular language.
When translating the language, the historian might omit some words, in the process; vital information about people’s history may be lost.
ii.Different languages may have similar words with different meanings, this can confuse a researcher.
iii.There has been borrowing of words from other languages and this has interfered with or corrupted the parent language this leads to inaccurate information.
iv.A linguist may find some of the words from different groups difficult to understand.
v.Some languages have become archaic or extinct and are therefore difficult to translate.

3.Anthropology: is the study of human beings, their origin, development, beliefs and social relationships. To carry out their work, anthropologists have to live among the people to experience their way of life. This helps them to understand and explain structures of societies, forms of social organization, institutions, marriage, and forms of government, systems of inheritance, religious customs and cultural values. They can also explain aspects of the economic such as fishing and agriculture in which a given community depends. Anthropology is vital because it gives a deeper understanding of particular aspects of people’s culture.

Advantages.
i.It enables historians to determine the cultural past of a community.
ii.Information is easily obtained from the surrounding.
iii.It compliments other sources.

Limitations of anthropology.
i.It’s expensive because it involves living among the people you are studying or observing.
ii.It’s time consuming method of acquiring information.
iii.The researcher may find it difficult to adapt fully to the environmental during their research, and if they do, they face the risk of losing their own culture.
iv.People under study may try to behave differently when the researcher is around, it is hence unreliable.
iv.When observing a researcher may miss important details as it is mainly observing people in their own culture.

4.Archaeology and palaeontology: archaeology is the study of material remains from past human life and culture through scientific analysis.
Examples of material remains include;
Store tools
Pottery
Wooden implements
Metal objects
Baskets
Garments.
It also includes
Shelters
Rock paintings
Art work.
After studying the artefacts, the archaeologies reconstruct the activities of the people who lived in pre-historic time form various evidence such as the trace of weapons, coins, bones and traditional crafts.
Archaeologists often work with natural scientists such as palaeontologists. Palaeontologist deals with fossils. Fossils are remains of pre-historical plant and animals.

Advantages
i.Archaeology gives detailed information on material culture that other sources may not have.
ii.It gives a sense of time as the artefacts can be dated.
It compliments other sources of information iii.It thus gives authentic information.
iv.It provides varied information depending on the material found at a site.

Limitations.
i.It is expensive source of information because of the hiring labourers to excavate a site and the need for expensive archaeological equipments.
ii.It is time consuming during excavation process as well as taking materials to laboratories for analysis.
iii.Some artefacts and fossils are fragile and can disintegrate during excavation. iv.This results in the distortion of analysis.
v.It is only laminated to the study of ancient records and not recent history.
vi.Information may be inaccurate resulting from wrong conclusion or reconstructions.
vii.It is not easy to accurately determine date when events took place. It is only estimate through method of dating fossils.
viii.There are few archaeological experts and facilities for interpreting archaeological evidence in Kenya.
Moraa orina answered the question on November 14, 2018 at 04:54

Answer Attachments

Next: Explain the meaning of government and explain the three arms of government

Previous: Explain why the ionic radius of potassium is greater than that of sodium

View more History and Government Questions and Answers  |  Return to Questions Index

Exams With Marking Schemes

Related Questions