Standard of Ur

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/history/ancient-medieval/Ancient/v/standard-of-ur-c-2600-2400-b-c-e

As a class, you watched and picked apart this mini-tutorial on the Standard of Ur.  You asked what questions must I consider when "reading an artifact" deeply in order to act as a visual detective? Below is the list generated by 7th period:

These questions should guide your visual analysis for the remainder of the year:

• Where was the artifact found?  How was it found?  With what other artifacts was it found?  How can I use the other (outside) artifacts found with this artifact to interpret it? 

• Of what is it made in terms of materials?  What is the origin (place) of those materials?  What do those materials suggest about the culture that produced it?

• How difficult would you anticipate it was to build or create this artifact?  What technologies were have been used to build or create it?  What types of skilled and unskilled labor would have been required to build or create it?

• Has this artifact been well-preserved, damaged, altered, or experienced decay? How, if at all, would it have appeared different at the time?

• What is its size (and relative sizes within the composition)? 

• If a scene, or consisting of separate parts, what is its layout or overall organization? 

• What are the unique stylistic features? What specific details are represented? 

• What is its purpose?  Who used it? How did they use it? Why did they use it? 

• (For artifacts depicting people/animals,) what actions do the people seem to be undertaking? Who are they? What do they represent? Is any status or rank differences evident? 

• How would you describe the life ways of the "people" based on their depictions? 

• Why is this artifact significant?