Student's Book – Dec 2009 (5.9mb) - The Curriculum Project

2. Ancient Southeast Asia2.1 INTRODUCTIONKEY WORDSarchaeologist (n) – a scientist who studies ancient civilisations through their physical remainsmaterial evidence (n) – something you can see or touch that gives you reason tobelieve somethingperspective (n) – a view or picture in one’s mind, an opinion, a positionpreviewA. What do you know about ancient Southeast Asia? How do you know what youknow? Can you be sure that what you know really happened?B. How do you think historians can find out about what happened in ancientSoutheast Asia?In this chapter you will learn about the ancient history ofSoutheast Asia. Southeast Asia is a very ancient region. Peoplelived there for many thousands of years without leaving anyrecord. Also, many different groups of people lived in thesame areas at different times so it is often hard to tell whodid what.When we learn about things that happened such a long timeago, it is often difficult to be sure. This is because there ishardly any material evidence left to tell us exactly whathappened. Many historians and archaeologists disagree abouthow and when things happened. When historians write aboutancient Southeast Asia, they often say that they can only guesswhat had happened. They always use such words as probably,it seems like, and some historians believe that to show us thatthey don’t know for sure.Everything you read in this chapter is only one of the manyAncient Khmer ruinsperspectives on the events in Southeast Asia many hundreds of years ago. What most historiansagree on though, is that the history of Southeast Asia is based on movements of peoples. Differentgroups of people migrated in and out of the region as well as around Southeast Asia. Manykingdoms and empires were established and then destroyed until modern Southeast Asia wasformed. In this chapter you will learn a little bit about how this happened.discussioncomprehension,applyinginformationA. What did you learn from this introduction?B. What is important to keep in mind whenever you are studying ancient history?C. Why do you think it is difficult to know for sure what has happened?D. What do you think would have helped historians make more accurate accounts ofancient Southeast Asia?2.2 CIVILISATION AND CULTUREpreviewbrainstormingHave you ever heard the word ‘civilisation’ before? What do you think it means?11