More than just words on a page: The different ways we record history

At Transkribus, our goal is to unlock history by helping archives, libraries, and researchers create searchable, digital versions of handwritten documents. But while written sources form a large part of historical research, they are by no means the only records of our past. Videos, music, images, oral traditions, and physical objects are just some of the other sources that contain vital information about the events that shaped our world.

In this post, we want to take a step back from the handwritten page and explore these other methods of recording history. From stories passed between family members to the websites we browse today, each type of source gives us a unique window into human history. By looking at the pros and cons of each and seeing how they fit together, we can gain a much clearer and more complete picture of the past.

Birth registers are one of the most studied historical records and are particularly useful for genealogical work. © German Federal Archives via Wikimedia Commons

The authority of the written word

When you think about history, written documents are probably the first thing that comes to mind. This is a huge category, covering everything from official government papers and contracts to personal diaries, letters, newspapers, and even something as simple as a postcard. For centuries, writing has been the main way to record detailed information and make sure it lasts. It’s the foundation of how we study history today, giving us the evidence we need to understand the past.

A great example of the stories a document can tell is this cookbook from 19th-century Norwegian housewife, Christine Storm Munch, which was digitised and published with Transkribus. The book, collated over many years, does more than just list recipes. It gives us a real taste of the food, ingredients, and social habits in Norway at the turn of the 19th century. Through these recipes, we can learn about diet, the cost of food, how work was divided in the home, and how a community showed its identity through what it ate.

The benefits of written records are obvious. They can explain complicated ideas, hold massive amounts of data, and provide very specific details. If they are looked after properly, they provide a stable record that future researchers can come back to again and again.

But they also have their downsides. A major one is bias. For most of history, reading and writing was something only a small, educated group of people could do. This means that written records often show the world from the point of view of the rich and powerful. The voices of everyday people—workers, farmers, and often women—are usually missing, or are only described by others. On top of that, paper and parchment are fragile. Countless documents have been lost to fire, floods, and general decay, leaving big gaps in our knowledge.

Photographs are one of the more recent ways to record the past. Image via Canva

The rise of multimedia records

The 20th century completely changed the game for recording history. For the first time, the past could be captured not just in writing and oral traditions, but in recorded sound and moving pictures. The invention of photography, audio recording, and film created brand new types of archives. Today, that has grown to include digital files like websites, social media posts, and emails. These multimedia records have changed how we connect with the past, giving us an immediate, emotional connection in a way that is often difficult with the written word.

Think about the records we have of the American Civil Rights Movement. We have plenty of written documents, like laws, speeches, and newspaper reports. But the photographs of protestors facing police dogs, or the TV footage of Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech, have a special kind of power. These sights and sounds capture the feeling and atmosphere of a moment in a way words alone just can't. They make the past feel closer and more real.

This ability to capture feelings and emotions is one of the biggest advantage of multimedia sources. They can preserve the sound of someone’s voice, the expression on their face, or the noise of a busy street. They are also easier for more people to access, since you don't need to be able to read to understand a photograph. However, these sources come with their own problems. The idea that "the camera never lies" is, of course, not true. Photos can be staged and film can be edited to push a certain story. Another huge problem for archives is that technology becomes outdated. Getting information off a floppy disk, a VHS tape, or an old website is getting harder and harder, which makes long-term preservation a challenge.

Dance, such as the Native American dance seen here at the 2007 National Powwow, is also considered an oral tradition. © Cynthia Frankenburg via Wikimedia Commons

The endurance of oral traditions

Long before writing was even invented, history was passed on by word of mouth. Oral traditions—the stories, songs, family histories, and sayings passed from one generation to the next—were the world's first history books. In many cultures, these traditions aren't just old tales; they are carefully protected ways of preserving a community's memory, identity, and important knowledge about things like laws and family lines.

A good example of oral tradition is the role of griots in many West African societies. Griots aren't just storytellers. They are trained historians, musicians, and living archives who memorise and recite the histories of their communities. Huge epics, like the story of Sundiata Keita, who founded the Mali Empire in the 1200s, were kept alive for centuries by griots before they were ever written down. These oral histories are full of cultural details and information that you can't find anywhere else.

The best thing about oral traditions is that they give us the history of people who didn’t write things down, including many communities and groups left out of official records. They offer a personal perspective, telling a community's story in its own words. The main drawback, of course, is that human memory isn't perfect. Even with careful training, details can change or be forgotten over time. Stories can also be tweaked to better suit the present day. This makes it hard for historians to pin down exact dates or check the facts against other sources.

Physical objects often have to be painstakingly pieced together before being analaysed. © Silar via Wikimedia Commons

The testimony of physical objects

The last main way we can learn about history is through physical objects. This is the world of archaeology and museums, and it includes everything from big buildings and artworks to everyday things like tools, broken pots, and old bits of clothing. Every object is a product of its time with a lot to reveal about the people who made and used it, as well as technology, trade, how society was structured, and what people believed.

The discovery of the Sutton Hoo ship burial in England is a perfect example of how objects can change our view of history. Found in 1938, this Anglo-Saxon grave from the 7th century was filled with amazing treasures, including a detailed helmet, gold jewellery, and swords. At the time, many people dismissed this period as a "Dark Age". But the incredible quality of the Sutton Hoo items proved that this society was actually wealthy, skilled, and connected to the wider world, forcing experts to completely rethink the entire period.

As the Sutton Hoo discovery shows, physical objects give us direct, hands-on evidence of the past. They can be scientifically tested and dated, giving us a solid timeline. They also tell the stories of ordinary people through the everyday items they left behind. The tricky part is figuring out what these objects mean. An artefact doesn't come with an instruction manual. A pot is a pot, but was it for cooking, storing things, or used in a ceremony? The meaning is often up for debate. Plus, what we find is only a tiny fraction of what once existed, as most things, especially those made from wood or cloth, have rotted away.

Putting the pieces together

Each of these ways of recording history gives us a unique and important viewpoint. But they're most powerful when you use them together. The best history often comes from combining evidence from all these different sources, letting them back each other up, challenge each other, and build a bigger picture.

For instance, the University of Exeter's "Material Culture of Wills" project shows how well this can work. Researchers are using written records—in this case, old wills—to learn about the physical objects people used to own. The wills list everything from furniture and clothes to tools, helping us picture the everyday lives of people whose belongings are now long gone. In this way, a written document helps us reconstruct the physical world of the past. In the same way, when a storytelling tradition such as Rajasthani Kaavad is filmed and put online, it becomes a multimedia source, saving a piece of cultural history for people all over the world to see.

History isn't one single story. It's more like a choir of different voices, all recorded in different ways. At Transkribus, we're happy to be playing our part by making historical written documents easier for everyone to access. By turning old handwriting into digital data, we help researchers connect the written word with all the other kinds of historical evidence out there, helping to build a richer and more complete story of where we all come from.

Want to find out more about Transkribus? Watch our introduction video below or check out our  website for more details about our powerful transcription platform.