Welcome to Tuesday Trivia!

If you are:

• a long-time reader, lurker, or inquirer who has always felt too nervous to contribute an answer
• new to /r/AskHistorians and getting a feel for the community
• Looking for feedback on how well you answer
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• one of our amazing flairs

this thread is for you ALL!

Come share the cool stuff you love about the past! Please don’t just write a phrase or a sentence—explain the thing, get us interested in it! Include sources especially if you think other people might be interested in them.

AskHistorians requires that answers be supported by published research. We do not allow posts based on personal or relatives' anecdotes. All other rules also apply—no bigotry, current events, and so forth.

For this round, let’s look at: Awesome Archaeology! Tell me about a neat archaeological find—a site, a couple of artifacts. Why are they important? What do they suggest about the culture that made them?

Next time: Oral Literature!

300k men leaving most of their weapons and equipment behind at Dunkirk is surely a hefty amount.

Was this equipment used to fuel the German war machine or was it not used due to complications or political reasons? Watching the film sorta sparked the thought

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I'm currently doing a history assignment on the industrial revolution (if it made the world better or worse, to be specific), and I am having trouble finding reliable sources for the piece. Some help, please?

Hey /r/akshistorians, I am currently writing a story set torwards the end of the first world war during the time of the great flu pandemic known today as the Spanish flu. My main character is a doctor trying to save his fiancee, which is why I wanted to ask you guys about which treatments were used to combat the disease?

If you were a British infantry soldier in the Army before 1914, what were your chances of surviving unscathed? Are there many memoirs lasting the whole war?

I made the question relatively specific, but I am in general interested in all aspects of non-bread and meat foods people might have eaten during this time period. Any information is very much appreciated.

Why does the USA not have colonial architecture or colonial towns to the extent that Latin American and other Anglo American colonies did? I am speaking strictly in terms of Anglo-north American colonies, not colonies of other nations (St Augustine in Florida, New Orleans in Louisiana, etc. ) that were subsequently incorporated into the USA.

I know there is Jamestown, Williamsburg, Charleston, and like a few streets in Boston and others, but there are no fully fledged cities that retain a distinct colonial character that define them comparable to, say, Paraty and Salvador in Brasil and Barichara and Cartagena in Colombia. Why is this the case? Why did the US colonies not develop to the extent in this way that other colonies did?

Thanks!

I work in the tech startup industry, where a common saying is that the real way to make money during a gold rush is to sell shovels (the message for tech startups is that the best way to make money is to make a product to sell to other tech startups).

Is there any truth to this saying? During the California gold rush, was selling shovels (and other related equipment) more likely to provide a solid financial return than mining for gold?

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There don't seem to be any in the Askhistorians recommendations section except 1491 (which I still might get), but I'm looking for books that focus more on Mesoamerica specifically. An overview of the various cultures and historical periods, differences and similarities between the cultural groups, etc. Specific books about specific cultures would also be highly appreciated.

Thanks!

In the American education system, I was taught that the Nazi invasion of Poland was the start of the war, while Japanese action against China was sidelined and not counted. What are the primary reasons for this? Is it specific to the United States?

Me and my friend were wondering about this. It seems dumb, but of course there must be nuanced reasons as to why most major militaries fought wars in such a manner for such a long time. Could anyone explain why infantry fought in lines?

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