The word 'archeology' comes from the Greek archaia ('ancient things') and logos ('theory' or 'science'). Archeology is the scientific study of the material remains of past human life and activities. These include human artifacts from the very earliest stone tools to the man-made objects that are buried or thrown away in the present day. Our knowledge of prehistoric, ancient, and extinct cultures primarily comes from archeological investigations.
(Source: Archaeology Magazine Archive)
Archeology falls under the broad field of anthropology or the study of humans. Anthropology has four subfields:
Archeology isn't
An archeological site is any place where there are physical remains of past human activities. There are many types of archeological sites.
Prehistoric archeological sites are those without a written record. They may include villages or cities, stone quarries, rock art, ancient cemeteries, campsites, and megalithic stone monuments. A site can be as small as a pile of chipped stone tools left by a prehistoric hunter. Or a site can be as large and complex as the ancient pre-Columbian cities in the ruins of Chichen Itza, Mexico.
Historical archeological sites are those where archeologists can use writing to aid their research. Those include densely populated modern cities, or areas far below the surface of a river, or the sea. The wide variety of historical archeological sites include shipwrecks, battlefields, slave quarters, cemeteries, mills, and factories.
Archaeological ruins of Temple of Ceres, a Greek Doric temple, found in Campania, Italy
Even the smallest archeological site may contain a wealth of important information. Artifacts are objects made, modified, or used by humans. Archeologists analyze artifacts to learn about the people who made and used them. Non-portable artifacts called features are also important sources of information at archeological sites. Features include things like soil stains that show where storage pits, structures, or fences once existed. Ecofacts are natural remains related to human activity. Plant and animal remains can help archeologists understand diet and subsistence patterns.
Archeology is a diverse field of study. Most archeologists focus on a particular region of the world or a specific topic of study. Specialization allows an archeologist to develop expertise on a particular issue. Some archeologists study human remains (bioarchaeology), animals (zooarchaeology), ancient plants (paleoethnobotany), stone tools (lithics), etc. Some archeologists specialize in technologies that find, map, or analyze archeological sites. Underwater archeologists study the remains of human activity that lie beneath the surface of water or on coasts.
Archaeology is divided into prehistoric and historical archaeology.
Prehistoric archaeology is the study of cultures that did not have a written language. Although prehistoric peoples did not write about their culture, they left remains such as tools, pottery, ceremonial objects, and dietary refuse.
Historical archaeology studies the remains of cultures for which a written history exists. Historical archaeology examines records from the past that include diaries; court, census, and tax records; deeds; maps; and photographs.
Through combining the use of documentation and archaeological evidence, archaeologists gain a better understanding of the past and human behavior.
Archeological sites are evidence of human activity often associated with concentrations of artifacts. Excavation of archeological sites is a destructive process requiring the systematic removal of soils and artifacts. Archeological sites are like research laboratories where data is collected, recorded, and analyzed. Archeologists search for patterns in past human behavior through controlled excavation and mapping of information relative to the soil layers and artifacts associated with each layer. They study these patterns and changes in human behavior over long periods of time. Archeological sites are non-renewable resources; once they're destroyed or excavated they're gone forever and can't be replaced.
Context in archeology refers to the relationship that artifacts have to each other and to their surroundings. Every artifact found on an archeological site has a defined location, Archeologists record the exact spot where they find an artifact before removing it from that location. When people remove an artifact without recording its precise location, we lose that context forever. At that point, the artifact has little or no scientific value. Context is what allows archeologists to understand the relationships between artifacts and between archeological sites. It is how we understand how people in the past lived their daily lives.
The goal of archeology is to understand how and why human behavior has changed over time. Archeologists search for patterns in the evolution of significant cultural events such as the development of farming, the emergence of cities, or the collapse of major civilizations for clues of why these events occurred. Ultimately, they are searching for ways to better predict how cultures will change, including our own, and how to better plan for the future.
