Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology (from Greek ἀρχαιολογία, archaiologia – ἀρχαῖος, arkhaīos, "ancient"; and -λογία, -logiā, "-logy"), is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture and environmental data which they have left behind, which includes artefacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes (the archaeological record). The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, and cultural landscapes. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history. In the United States it is thought of as a branch of anthropology, altho Archaeology, or archeology (from Greek ἀρχαιολογία, archaiologia – ἀρχαῖος, arkhaīos, "ancient"; and -λογία, -logiā, "-logy"), is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture and environmental data which they have left behind, which includes artefacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes (the archaeological record). The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, and cultural landscapes. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history. In the United States it is thought of as a branch of anthropology, although in Europe it is viewed as a separate discipline.

Archaeology studies human history from the development of the first stone tools in eastern Africa 3.4 million years ago up until recent decades. It is of most importance for learning about prehistoric societies, when there are no written records for historians to study, and which makes up over 99% of total human history, from the Palaeolithic until the advent of literacy in any given society. Archaeology has various different goals, which range from studying human evolution to cultural evolution and understanding culture history.

The discipline involves surveying, excavation and eventually analysis of data collected to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. It draws upon anthropology, history, art history, classics, ethnology, geography, geology, linguistics, physics, information sciences, chemistry, statistics, palaeoecology, palaeontology, palaeozoology, palaeoethnobotany, and palaeobotany.

Archaeology developed out of antiquarianism in Europe during the 19th century, and has since become a discipline practised across the world. Since its early development, various specific sub-disciplines of archaeology have developed, including maritime archaeology, feminist archaeology and archaeoastronomy, and numerous different scientific techniques have been developed to aid archaeological investigation. Nonetheless, today, archaeologists face many problems, ranging from dealing with pseudoarchaeology to the looting of artefacts and opposition to the excavation of human remains. ...more

New Releases Tagged "Archaeology"

Neptune's Fortune: The Billion-Dollar Shipwreck and the Ghosts of the Spanish Empire

Most Read This Week Tagged "Archaeology"

Tomb of the Sun King (Raiders of the Arcana #2)

Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations

The Way of the Bear (Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito #26)

The Ark Files (Eden Black Archaeological Thrillers #1)

Dark Dive (Underwater Investigation Unit, #5)

Charlie Thorne and the Curse of Cleopatra (Charlie Thorne #3)

More most read this week tagged "archaeology"...

Archaeology Books

Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World

1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed

Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody, #1)

Gods, Graves & Scholars: The Story of Archaeology

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age

More archaeology books...

Lists

The Illyrian Adventure by Lloyd Alexander

Archaeology in Middle Grade & YA Fiction

159 books — 13 voters

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

Exploration Fawcett by Percy Harrison Fawcett

Archaeological Adventure

14 books — 2 voters

The Captain of the Pole-Star and Other Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" by William Hope Hodgson

The Ghost of the Mary Celeste by Valerie Martin

Ghost Ships, Abandoned Lighthouses and Other Eerie Vanishings in Fiction Part I

102 books — 4 voters

The Treasures of Islamic Art in the Museums of Cairo by Bernard O'Kane

House decoration in Nubia by Marian Wenzel

Electric Ancient Egyptians by James Ernest Brown

.. ..::..Misr .:.

105 books — 2 voters

The Secrets of Greystone House by Marcus Attwater

Adventures in Archaeology

26 books — 19 voters

Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson

The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt by Aidan Dodson

Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt by Joyce A. Tyldesley

Ancient Records of Egypt, Volume 1 by James Henry Breasted

Books about Ancient Egypt & Related, pt. 1

101 books — 4 voters

Featured News & Interviews

Personality Picks! 136 Book Recommendations for (Nearly) Every Type of Reader

Read »

Quotes Tagged “Archaeology”

“ Archaeologists only look at what lies beneath their feet. The sky and the heavens don't exist for them. ...more ”
― Agatha Christie, Murder in Mesopotamia

12 likes

“ Until humans came and made anthills out of these mountains, Diwan Sahib was saying, looking up at the langurs, the land had belonged to these monkeys, and to barking deer, nilgai, tiger, barasingha, leopards, jackals, the great horned owl, and even to cheetahs and lions. The archaeology of the wilderness consisted of these lost animals, not of ruined walls, terracotta amulets, and potsherds. ”
― Anuradha Roy, The Folded Earth

7 likes

More quotes...