- offer researchers a clue about the past.
relics or remains
- whether oral or written, may have been created to serve as
records or they might have been created for some other purposes. All these describe an
event, such as the record of a property exchange, speeches, and commentaries.
testimonies of witnesses
- chronicles or tracts presented in narrative form, written to impart a message whose motives for their composition vary widely.
narrative or literature
is typically composed in order to inform contemporaries or succeeding generations
scientific tract
- those which document/record an existing legal situation or create a new one, and it is these kinds of sources that professional historians once treated as the purest, the ‘best’ source.
diplomatic/ juridical source
is usually sealed or authenticated to provide evidence that a legal transaction has been completed and can be used as evidence in a judicial proceeding in case of dispute.
legal documents
- are information pertaining to economic, social, political, or judicial significance – records kept by bureaucracies. For example, government reports, research findings, records of census, among others.
social documents
- include artistic creations such as pottery, jewelry, dwellings, graves, churches, roads, among others.
material/archeological evidence
for example, tales and sagas of ancient peoples and the folk songs or popular rituals from the pre-modern period of Western History. During the present age, interviews
oral evidence
- are original, first-hand account of an event or period that are usually written or made during or close to the event or period. These sources are original and factual, not interpretative. Ex: diaries, journals, letters, newspaper and magazine articles (factual accounts, government records, photographs, maps, recorded or transcribed
speeches, interviews.
primary source
- are materials made by people long after the events being described had taken place to provide valuable interpretations of historical events. It analyzes and interprets primary sources. Ex: biographies, histories, literary criticism, books written by a third party about a historical event.
secondary source
examines the origins of earliest text to appreciate the underlying circumstances upon which the text came to be
historical criticisms
determines the authenticity of the source. The critic should determine the origin of the material, its author, and the sources of information used. It must be investigated based on the time and place it is written.
external criticisms
determines the historicity of the facts contained in the document. Facts contained in the document must first be tested before any conclusion pertaining to it can be admitted.
internal criticisms
