Archaeology

Summary

Archaeology is the field of applied science concerned with the techniques and practice of collecting, preserving, and analyzing the artifacts and physical remains left behind by human civilizations. The central purpose of archaeology is to study the lives and cultural practices of ancient and past societies. Archaeology has a deep intangible impact on human experience as a means of understanding and maintaining the multifaceted cultural heritage produced by the human species. It also has many practical applications; for example, archaeological studies of rural agriculture can help farmers increase the yield of their crops, and urban archaeologists can advise municipal administrators on issues such as transit patterns and garbage disposal.

Definition and Basic Principles

Archaeology is the study of past human cultures, both historic and prehistoric, through the systematic excavation, inspection, and interpretation of material remains such as tools, toys, clothing, bones, buildings, and other artifacts. In the United States (US), archaeology is considered a subfield of anthropology, which is the science concerned with humankind's origin, evolution, behavior, beliefs, culture, and physical features.

The traditional image of archaeology held by many people (and reinforced by television programs and motion pictures featuring adventurous archaeologists such as Indiana Jones) is a field largely concerned with examining ancient artifacts drawn from the extremely distant past. This is certainly true of many subfields of archaeology, such as Egyptology, Assyriology (study of ancient Assyria), classical archaeology, and prehistoric archaeology. However, archaeological tools and techniques can frequently be applied to the analysis of human cultures across all segments of time, from the beginning of the species to much later epochs. For example, industrial archaeologists study the development and use of industrial methods, most of which did not truly come into being on a large scale until the eighteenth century. In contrast, urban archaeologists study the patterns of life revealed by the material past of metropolises—such as New York or Paris—that still exist and that have a long history of human habitation.

Several key principles characterize archaeology, as practiced in the modern world. First, the field is not simply descriptive but rather explanatory. Archaeologists are concerned with the question of what happened in the past and how and why it happened. To that end, they attempt to interpret the artifacts and features they uncover for clues about the beliefs, behaviors, traditions, and social, political, and economic lives of the cultures at hand. For example, archaeological excavations of the artifacts buried in the tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs have revealed specific knowledge about what Egyptians believed to be true about the afterlife. Second, it is multiscalar, meaning that examining a particular culture takes place simultaneously on many scales, each of which is intertwined with the others. For instance, an archaeologist may combine the small-scale analysis of individual pots, vases, and other clay artifacts—which give insight into the specific production processes used by the artisans who created them—with large-scale evidence about how those objects were handled on trade routes and marketplace procedures—which give insight into the overall historical trajectory of an entire civilization. No matter which geographic region an archaeologist is studying, they are likely to examine collected data in the light of broader global trends.

Background and History

People have always been fascinated by the cultures that came before them. Even in ancient Babylon, for example, relics such as ruined temples were objects of interest. During the European Renaissance, an early form of archaeology arose that mainly focused on classical antiquities and the investigation of large prehistoric sites and monuments, such as Stonehenge. The eighteenth century witnessed the first formal archaeological excavations, one of which was conducted by future US President Thomas Jefferson on an Indian burial mound located on his Virginia estate. In the nineteenth century, the site of the ancient city of Pompeii, destroyed by a sudden volcanic eruption, became the focus of intensive archaeological investigations. Innovative techniques, such as the use of plaster of Paris to create molds of bones and other artifacts, were developed by early practitioners such as Italian scholar Giuseppe Fiorelli.

During the nineteenth century, archaeology began to develop the formality of a scientific discipline. The simultaneous maturation of the geology field, with its theory of the stratification of rocks, helped establish similar ideas in archaeology. In addition, archaeologists began to work with the principle of uniformitarianism for the first time; this was the idea that past and present societies had more commonalities than differences. Finally, the nineteenth century was the age in which naturalist Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, combined with the accumulating weight of physical evidence, led archaeologists to search for material evidence of human activity in the very distant past, far beyond the age of the Earth as defined by biblical scholars.

Archaeology underwent a transformation during the twentieth century when many useful field techniques were developed that helped transform the field into a true science. Detailed records were kept at every excavation, including the location and description of each artifact. Sites were also divided into grids and searched systematically, and drawings and models were made of every dig. Advances were also made in absolute dating; particularly significant was the invention of radiocarbon dating by chemist Willard Libby in the US. As a result of these techniques, archaeology has become far more quantitative or driven by data and statistical analysis than it had previously been. Hypotheses and theories were carefully tested before being accepted.

In the twenty-first century, technology significantly advanced archaeology. Drones and satellites enabled archaeologists to better find and record their discoveries. Cyber-archaeology emerged in the 2020s. This technology merged archaeology with engineering, computer science, and natural science. As the 2020s progressed, artificial intelligence and data analytics helped archeologists analyze data and make informed theories. 

How It Works

Archaeological Surveys. The first step in conducting any archaeological investigation is to identify and take stock of the study's location. This is known as a survey. The choice of location can be determined in several ways. Documentary sources, such as old maps or other written materials, can sometimes be used to accurately discover the location of an archaeological site. For example, clues in the writings of the ancient Greek poet Homer helped scientists find the ruined city of Troy (in northwest Turkey). In other cases, archaeologists attempt to survey sites on which new developments, such as roads or buildings, are planned to unearth important remains before they are destroyed. This is known as salvage archaeology. On occasion, developers have integrated remains found by salvage archaeologists into their construction plans, as in the case of an Aztec temple dug up in Mexico City and used as part of the subway station built on that site. Other archaeological sites of interest are discovered through ground reconnaissance, in which either a judgmental or probabilistic sampling method is used to search for physical evidence, or aerial reconnaissance, which can sometimes turn up traces of human activity that cannot be seen from the ground.

Once a site has been identified as being of archaeological interest and an excavation begins, a deeper survey of the selected area is conducted. The same sampling methods used in ground reconnaissance are available to archaeologists at this point. Judgmental sampling is based solely on an archaeologist's judgment about which locations within the site should be searched for evidence. For example, since humans tend to settle near water sources, judgmental sampling might concentrate the excavation along a riverbed that runs through the site. Probabilistic sampling, in contrast, is subject to chance and variation and may help archaeologists turn up unexpected discoveries or make more accurate predictions about areas not sampled. Probabilistic sampling can take the form of simple random, stratified random, or systematic sampling. Simple random sampling is where any location within a site has an equal chance of being sampled. Stratified random sampling is where the site is divided into naturally occurring regions, such as forest versus cultivated land, and the number of searches conducted in each region is based on its size in relation to the entire site. Systematic sampling is where a site is divided into equal parts and then sampled at consistent intervals (for example, a search is made every 100 meters).

Types of Archaeological Evidence. The evidence used by archaeologists to form a picture of an ancient or past society can be classified into four major categories: material, environmental, documentary, and oral evidence. Of the four, material evidence is the most fundamental. It can consist of either organic or inorganic remains that have been used by or constructed by people. Material evidence includes buildings, tools, pottery, toys, textiles, baskets, and food remains. Environmental evidence can take many forms, including soil samples, minerals, pollen, spores, animal bones, shells, and fossils.

Because the Earth has undergone many significant geological and climate-related changes throughout its history, environmental evidence can help reveal what the world looked like during a particular group's existence in an area. Environmental evidence can also offer clues about people's relationships with the landscape around them. For example, suppose the materials in a lower layer of a dig mainly consisted of wood, charcoal, and pollen, while those in a higher layer mainly consisted of cattle bones. In that case, one hypothesis might be that a region that had once been wooded had, at some point, been cleared by the area's inhabitants and used for the rearing of animals.

Documentary evidence, or written records, can be extremely useful to archaeologists whenever it is available. Depending on the epoch, or span of history, from which these documents arise, they may consist of text inscribed on stone slabs, clay tablets, papyrus, or other materials. They may record laws, serve as proof of legal contracts (such as marriages or business agreements), list births and deaths in a city, or inventory commodities such as grain or shells. Finally, oral and ethnographic evidence—interviews and oral histories with modern-day inhabitants of a particular area—can help supplement the physical remains collected in an excavation. Certain practices, such as the techniques of rural architecture or marriage traditions, for instance, may have been preserved without much variation over time. In such cases, living members of a culture that has been around for many generations may be able to provide key information about the habits of their ancestors.

Dating Archaeological Evidence. Archaeologists have a plethora of techniques for placing objects in time. Relative dating methods identify artifacts as older or younger than others, thus placing them into a rough inferred sequence. One of the most straightforward techniques of relative dating is to note the depth at which a particular object was found at a site; that is, in which strata, or deposit layer, it was contained. This method, known as stratigraphy, is an effective way to gauge the relative age of objects because layers build up on top of other layers over time. Other means of relative dating include pollen analysis, ice-core sampling, and seriation. Seriation uses the association of artifacts with known dates of use and knowledge about how the frequency of use of those artifacts changed over time as markers for other items found nearby.

Absolute dating methods are far more accurate than relative dating techniques (which can be confused by the effects of natural disasters or animal activity on the organization of strata). They also produce more specific results. The absolute dating technique that is used more than any other by archaeologists is radiocarbon dating, which is capable of assigning an accurate age to artifacts of biological origin (including bone, charcoal, leather, shell, hair, textiles, paper, and glues) that are 50,000 years old or younger. Radiocarbon dating relies on the fact that the element carbon has a particular isotope—carbon 14—which is radioactive. Radiocarbon dating is also known as carbon-14 dating. This radioactive carbon combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form carbon dioxide, which is absorbed by plants as they photosynthesize. Because plants form the base of every food chain, all living things on Earth contain some amount of radiocarbon within their bodies. Because scientists know the half-life of radiocarbon (the time it takes for half the amount in a given sample to decay), they can measure the radiocarbon in any organic material and calculate how long it has been around. Besides radiocarbon dating, other absolute dating techniques include dendrochronology, which relies on the annual growth rings present in the trunks of long-lived trees, and thermoluminescent dating, in which trace amounts of radioactive atoms in rock, soil, and clay can be heated to produce light, the intensity of which varies depending on the age of the object. This method is primarily used to date pottery and other human-created artifacts.

Interpreting Evidence. Three basic concepts dominate an archaeologist's approach when approaching an artifact, a feature, or a site: context, classification, and chronology. Context, or where an object is found and what other items surround it, can reveal more of a complete story than any single artifact. For example, a decorated container found within a tomb could serve one purpose; the same container found in the kitchen of a dwelling could have been intended for an entirely different one. Classification (also known as typology) also helps place unearthed artifacts within a particular frame of reference. For example, determining that all the items found in a specific location belong to the same type—such as cooking utensils, hunting supplies, or bathing vessels—could indicate how a location was used or who used it. Finally, chronology is essential to understanding the relationship between the elements of any archaeological investigation. For example, unless they have been disturbed, objects located at lower levels, or strata, of a particular excavation site will be older than those located at higher levels. This can help archaeologists trace the development of a specific tool over time or to see and identify essential changes in the cultural practices of a given society.

Applications and Products

Cultural Resource Management. The major practical application of archaeological tools and techniques can be found in cultural resource management (CRM). CRM is a form of institutionally legislated salvage archaeology. It involves using archaeological skills to identify, preserve, and maintain important features of historic and prehistoric culture to benefit the public interest. In most countries, including the US and Canada, any planned development of any significance, including the building of new gas or oil pipelines, residences, highways, golf courses, or any other construction, requires the developer—whether private or public—to conduct a CRM survey to comply with legal requirements. CRM aims to ensure that important pieces of a nation's past are conserved. Significant legislation mandating CRM in the US includes the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. CRM studies are generally performed by trained archaeologists serving as consultants and involve reconnaissance and sampling intended to scan the area for the presence of significant archaeological sites, features, or artifacts. If any are found, the developers are responsible for safely excavating and preserving them. If this is impossible or the site is identified as especially historically significant, the project may be terminated.

Waste Management. Garbage archaeology, or garbology, was pioneered by American urban archaeologist William Rathje in the 1970s. By applying archaeological tools to the waste dumped in landfills, Rathje and other scientists have been provided many practical insights that are useful to waste management specialists and city, state, and federal administrators concerned with reducing waste and conserving energy. For instance, they showed that even supposedly biodegradable artifacts, such as paper, wood, and food, are preserved for far longer when packed tightly together in a landfill than they otherwise would be. This is because the dense conditions reduce the amount of oxygen available for decomposition. One of the implications of this discovery is that simply switching from nonbiodegradable to biodegradable materials in the production process—banning plastic disposable cups in favor of paper ones, for example—will not be enough to reduce the amount of effectively permanent waste that is generated by consumers and filling landfills to the point of overflowing.

Agriculture. In some parts of the world, environmental archaeologists have discovered evidence that areas of land marked by barren soil used to be rich and fertile. For example, the Negev Desert in Israel, with its high temperatures and meager rainfall, used to be the site of an ancient urban society that cultivated crops such as wheat and grapes. Archaeologists also established that the climate in the area had not changed over the 2,000-year period in between. Using aerial reconnaissance techniques, scientists showed the ancient farmers had employed a water-delivery system composed of terraces and cisterns to collect and redirect rainwater from the infrequent flash floods in the area. This insight proved to be of immense importance to modern-day agricultural scientists and farmers in Israel and played a role in the country's successful efforts to "green" the Negev. Similarly, local farmers in rural Peru have begun using prehistoric field technologies unearthed by environmental archaeologists—primarily elevated fields that improve drainage and help protect plants from chilly nights—to dramatically increase their crop yields.

Crime Investigation. Forensic archaeologists apply the methodologies of archaeology to investigate crimes, working closely with coroners and police officers to collect and analyze physical evidence from the scene. They investigate fragments of bone, teeth, soil, fabric, jewelry, or other artifacts, while more subtle clues such as disturbed soil or markings from tools or weapons may also provide essential leads. Just as in different forms of archaeology, the forensic archaeologist first establishes the site's boundaries to be surveyed, divides it into grids, and thoroughly excavates the material and environmental evidence found in the area. Stratigraphy is an essential element of forensic archaeology, particularly when a body has been buried before being found; the deeper digging into the soil proceeds, the older the remains, personal artifacts, or other evidence will be.

Careers and Course Work

The typical archaeology career path begins with an undergraduate anthropology degree, emphasizing biological, linguistic, and cultural anthropology coursework. In addition, the aspiring archaeologist should take courses in related sciences—such as geology, chemistry, ecology, environmental studies, evolutionary science, geophysics, anatomy, and paleontology. Mathematics and statistics are equally essential subjects since much archaeological analysis requires a keen understanding of these areas. In the humanities, history courses—preferably focused on a particular geographic area or epoch in time—are essential, as is an advanced knowledge of at least one foreign language. In addition, business management and technical writing skills will assist any archaeologist who chooses to go into the field of CRM. Finally, if possible, students should pursue archaeological internships, fieldwork placements, or other forms of practical work experience during their undergraduate careers. Such experiences are a means of gaining hands-on knowledge of the field techniques used in archaeology and providing students with professional contacts.

A bachelor's degree will serve as a sufficient minimum qualification for many professional archaeological positions in the private sector, particularly in consulting firms hired by developers to perform CRM surveys—in such settings, practical work experience is more important. However, additional graduate study at the master's or doctoral level is necessary to obtain a role as a crew supervisor and enter higher pay brackets. For archaeologists who wish to become faculty in academic institutions, a doctoral degree in archaeology and evidence of original research is required. Other organizations for which archaeologists work include museums, city and state governments, and the federal government. Typical roles for archaeologists include conducting field investigations, performing analyses of found artifacts, curating museum archaeology collections, teaching courses, and publishing research papers.

Social Context and Future Prospects

Archaeology is one of the most critical and influential lenses through which scientists, historians, and other scholars view pieces of the past that otherwise would be lost. Its findings often reveal stunning insights into the nature of human civilization and the growth of human culture. For example, archaeologists piecing together skeletons found in Africa have been able to uncover how the proto-human species Neanderthal and Homo sapiens (anatomically identical to modern humans) coexisted and competed, while the ancient cave paintings discovered in Lascaux, an area in the southwest of France, demonstrate that human beings were creating art as long ago as 15,000 BCE. In other words, archaeology is a science dedicated to telling the story of humanity itself.

Although archaeology is at its core a science concerned with the investigation of material objects, the future of archaeology may be surprisingly metaphysical: a small but growing movement is determined to treat the Internet as a treasure trove of archaeological artifacts. Internet archaeology, as this nascent subfield of archaeology is called, seeks to archive and interpret websites, pages, original social media sites, and graphics created during the early years of the Internet and are no longer being updated by their owners.

Technology also plays an increasing role in archeology in other ways in the twenty-first century. Light detection and ranging technology (LiDAR) facilitate the 3D mapping of archeological sites using virtual and augmented realities, creating a more immersive archeological experience. New excavation and modeling techniques are also advancing the field. As access to information increases and is shared faster and more efficiently amongst colleagues in the field, ethical considerations of the sites being excavated and the cultures to which they belong are increasingly considered. 

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