How do we know about the Dark Ages?

Question

I'm under the impression that the Dark Ages were "dark" because of the lack of historical records and end of classical learning. *Please correct me if I'm wrong.*

Therefore, how do we know about the Dark Ages if we have insufficient amounts of historic records? Is there any 1st hand accounts?

Answer 1

Because the extent to which they were 'dark' is somewhat exaggerated.  There were in fact people writing things down during this period.  In Ireland, fo rinstance, monasticism continued to flourish, and Irish scholars were still writing.

In England, although there was a lot of disruption after the departure of the romans, there were people still writing.  There was an historian called Gildas who was writing in the 6th century, for instance.  And in the 8th century Bede wrote his remarkable 'Ecclesiastical History of the English people' which is really enthralling,a nd gives a wonderfully detailed account of this exciting period in English history.

Answer 2

First will be to notice sagging skin near throat.Bones at calf will be visible.More wrinkles over palms.Nerves on feet can be clearly seen.

  

Answer 3

At that time, the Arabs were at their peak of enlightment, and they have recorded the dark ages while the europeans were not able to.

Answer 4

It's not like historical records disappeared in the power vacuum left by the receding Roman Empire.  In Western European countires, to which the Dark Ages generally applies (and History classes tend to focus on, much to the chagrin of people advocating less biased histories) records were stored and copied in monasteries.  A select few still knew how to write in Dark Age Western Europe.  There are first-hand accounts of travellers and missionaries, or at least they were related to scribes.  Many records were kept by the Islamic worlds in association with Europe, and places like Indian, China, and the Americas, although had little or no contact with Europe, could hardly be said to be in any Dark Age complete with an absence of writing at all.  Archaeological excavations and artifacts, and art pieces from the time period verify what we know and continue to give us more insight into this "dark" period.  It's one of my favorites because it is so obscure, and I revel in the turbulence of this age of transformation, from the fall of Rome to the ascension of converted pagan tribes to newly formed thrones of Europe.

Answer 5

Try reading "How the Irish Saved History." Historical records were kept during the dark ages, but it is commonly believed that the teachings that came out of Ancient Greece and Rome were lost at the start of the Dark ages. However, there was an Irish monastery just off the coast of Ireland that preserved a lot of the ancient records that would have been otherwise lost to history.