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Source Evaluation

Additional Resources

Mesopotamia

Egypt

Egyptian Burial Rituals >

Math in other Ancient Civilizations 

Source Evaluation using the OPCVL Format

An exercise in Source Criticism web based sources

Notice the website has a lot of ads. Notice the web-address. Think about the intended audience, the publisher, the credentials of the author (Origin). Think about  the reasons why the author is presenting this: is it for clicks; is it or for academic prestige; is it due to boredom or due to a desire to be funny or any number of reasons?  -- This all speaks to its purpose. Do any of these things about the source cast doubt on its credibility? This website is not a problem because it is a ".com" or any one thing like that (see my discussion on why ".org" is not necessarily any better than ".com"). But by recognizing the origin, the purpose, and the content, we can then begin to evaluate what value this source has and the limits to that value. There are some fascinating pieces of information on this site, but the origin, purpose, and content present clear signs that one should be very, VERY, cautious when reading this website for historical evidence. A student should do this with every source in which he/she comes into contact. There is no one reason to trust the accuracy or authenticity of a source, we must use our reason, our rationale, our prior knowledge to evaluate every source. 

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