Most Read This Week In 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

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 Lost Tomb: And Other Real-Life Stories of Bones, Burials, and Murder

The Ark Files (Eden Black Archaeological Thrillers #1)

A Grave in the Woods (Bruno, Chief of Police #17)

Dark Dive (Underwater Investigation Unit, #5)

La vida contada por un sapiens a un neandertal

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

The Two Lost Mountains (Jack West Jr, #6)

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

River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Road

The One Impossible Labyrinth (Jack West Jr, #7)

Crypt: Life, Death and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond

Who Ate the First Oyster?: The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History

The Cleopatra Cipher (Adrian West Adventures #1)

When the Stones Speak: The Remarkable Discovery of the City of David and What Israel's Enemies Don't Want You To Know

Of Silver and Secrets (Time's Lost Treasures, #2)

After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations

Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern

Buried: An Alternative History of the First Millennium in Britain

The Antique Store Detective (Bella Winter Mystery)

The Far Edges of the Known World: Life Beyond the Borders of Ancient Civilization

Journey of the Pharaohs (NUMA Files, #17)

The History of Magic: From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present

The Mesopotamian Riddle: An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to Decipher the World's Oldest Writing

Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art

The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age

Ancestors: A History of Britain in Seven Burials

A Time to Seek (The Time Travel Journals of Sahara Aldridge #1)

The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone

Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age

X Marks the Spot: The Story of Archaeology in Eight Extraordinary Discoveries

Mythica: A New History of Homer’s World, Through the Women Written Out of It

The Return of the Pharaoh: From the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.

The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution

The Language Puzzle: Piecing Together the Six-Million-Year Story of How Words Evolved

The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World

Into the Storm (Evidence: Under Fire, #1)

The Buried City: Unearthing the Real Pompeii

Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt's Ancient Temples from Destruction

Tutankhamun's Trumpet: Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects from the Boy-King's Tomb

Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas

Steeple Chasing: Around Britain by Church

First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human

Shadowlands: A Journey Through Britain's Lost Cities and Vanished Villages

How the World Made the West: A 4,000 Year History

Listen to the Land Speak: A Journey into the Wisdom of What Lies Beneath Us

Cleopatra's Daughter: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen

El hombre prehistórico es también una mujer

Accidental Archaeologists: True Stories of Unexpected Discoveries

The Other Ancient Civilisations: Decoding Archaeology’s Less Celebrated Cultures (History Gifts, Ancient World History)

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks

Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws: And Other Classical Myths, Historical Oddities, and Scientific Curiosities

Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World

The Encyclopedia of the Weird and Wonderful: Curious and Incredible Facts that Will Blow Your Mind

The Scythian Empire: Central Eurasia and the Birth of the Classical Age from Persia to China

Our Oldest Companions: The Story of the First Dogs

Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World

Stone Lands: A Telegraph Best Book of 2025

Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth

Αρχαιολογία αγάπη μου …έλα πάρε με από δω

Subterranea: Journey into the Depths of the Earth’s Most Extraordinary Underground Spaces

Nomads: The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World

Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World’s First Empire

The Secret Life of Hidden Places: Concealed Rooms, Clandestine Passageways, and the Curious Minds That Made Them

Warriors of Anatolia: A Concise History of the Hittites

True Raiders: The Untold Story of the 1909 Expedition to Find the Legendary Ark of the Covenant

The Atlantis Conspiracy (Adrian West Adventures #3)

The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World—and Globalization Began

The King's Shadow: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Deadly Quest for the Lost City of Alexandria

Homo Sapiens Rediscovered: The Scientific Revolution Rewriting Our Origins (The Rediscovered Series)

The Bears Ears: A Human History of America's Most Endangered Wilderness

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Quotes Tagged “Archaeology”

“ It's interesting to see that people had so much clutter even thousands of years ago. The only way to get rid of it all was to bury it, and then some archaeologist went and dug it all up. ...more ”
― Karl Pilkington, An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington

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“ One of the hallmarks of lamentation is its excess. Talking becomes screaming, singing becomes wailing. Mourners act out their pain on their own bodies, tearing their clothes and hair, beating their chests, even inflicting injuries. This intensity sets it apart from other forms of public witnessing. Lamentation is communication as it reels toward the unsayable, the inexpressible pain of loss. I see in practices of exhumation, in the lengths gone to recover the dead after annihilating violence, so ...more ”
― Alexa Hagerty

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