Judging Internet Sources

As one of our research duties, we are still sifting through the mountains of information on the internet. It seems Wikipedia is the best first place to go with a new lead, not because everything there is reliable, but the sources listed at the bottom of the page often are. One of the first things you must do when judging a source is determine whether it is a primary or secondary source. Was it written by someone who observed the event personally, was it an autobiography? Or was it recorded by someone centuries later? With ancient history, especially on the scale we’re working with, secondary is often all we have. With secondary information, we have to judge the author. Are they reliable, experts in their field, without bias? In many cases, we have equally reliable sources that contradict each other. Of course this can be beneficial in that it can offer a more panoramic view of the event. We are also looking for timely information. We attempt to seek out the latest archaeological evidence. Caral in Peru is an example. It was originally discovered about 50 years ago, but was largely left alone until 14 years ago. Since then it has been excavated to the point that is expected to be the second most popular tourist attraction in Peru, right after Machu Picchu. It was also a featured civilization in Pieces of the Puzzle!

We often go about researching with an idea in mind, we look for places that can further our story line, as Caral did. In the second book, we will be shifting away from our American pre-Incan civilizations and jumping into early Mayan. Mayan history is divided up into several periods. Looking at early pre-classic (2000 to 1000BC), we find first evidence of distinct “Mayan” civilizations in Sonusco, Mexico beginning around 1800 BC. This region just happens to border Guatemala where we find occupation as early as 1800 BC in Monte Alto. There it is! We’ve found the Mayans for our second book. Now we have to find reliable sources that support this, dig up as many facts as we can, while not discarding the gray matter- for this is where we can really run with the fictional aspects of the story.