‘History repeats’ trend reconnects TikTokers to their ancestors in wholesome ways
In history class, the past often seems like a collection of names and dates, a string of dry facts memorized to pass a test then forgotten hours later. Taught this way, history can seem boring, unrelatable and far away.
What if there was a way to break through that misperception and make history come alive? That’s what a TikTok trend is doing.
“The power of history and the power of archaeology, in general, is being relatable,” Steph Black, a Ph.D. candidate studying archaeology at Durham University in the U.K., told McClatchy News on Monday, Feb. 20. “It’s about people’s stories. It’s about people’s lives.”
Black, who posts under @archthot on TikTok, cares about making history and archaeology accessible and uses her social media accounts to do this. She read an academic study showing how people in Portugal ate crabs 90,000 years ago and decided to turn it into a TikTok.
“People today eat crabs. People 90,000 years ago were eating crabs. Let’s have a pretend conversation,” Black explained.
The simple TikTok video, posted Feb. 9, cuts back and forth between Black and a Neolithic woman from 90,000 years ago. The pair discuss eating crabs, their favorite ways to cook the dish and the common annoyance of breaking open the shell.
To Black’s surprise, her video inspired others to post about other passed-down habits, creating what some TikTok users began calling the “history repeats” trend. Set to folksy music, the videos show TikTokers reconnecting with their ancestors through imaginary conversations.
@historical_han_ chatted with a Roman woman about their shared use of face cream and other beauty products. @devotedly.yours chatted with an ancient Egyptian about still using eyeliner thousands of years later.
Some videos are funny, others sarcastic, joking about how someone’s ancestors might be disappointed in them. Many of the videos focus on women’s history.
“I can no longer braid my hair or eat olive oil without feeling the presence of the thousands of women who came before me,” @klara.p.bastin wrote in a video responding to the trend.
TikTok creators from marginalized communities have used the trend to revisit familial, cultural and historical trauma. @siincerelyher chatted with an enslaved African American woman about how she still braided her hair but no longer needed to hide rice or seeds in it to have food for later. Her ancestor ended the video in tears.
Black hopes the trend helps people connect to each other while bringing history and archaeology to life. “When people visit museums and see artifacts, it’s not ‘oh cool, that’s a necklace,’” she said. “It’s ‘wow, that necklace was worn by someone just like me… someone who had the same hopes and fears, stubbed their toe, (and) got hungry.”
Why? “The past isn’t that long ago,” she said.
Watch more ‘history repeats’ TikTok videos by looking at the videos using this sound.
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 7:03 AM with the headline "‘History repeats’ trend reconnects TikTokers to their ancestors in wholesome ways."
