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'''Archaeology''', '''archeology''', or '''archæology''' (from Greek: αρχαίος, ''archaios'', combining form in Latin ''archae-'', "ancient"; and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of [[Homo (genus)|human]] [[culture]]s through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including [[architecture]], [[Artifact Looting of archaeological sites by people in search of [[hoard]]s of buried treasure is an ancient problem. For instance, many of the tombs of the Egyptian [[pharaoh]]s were looted in antiquity. The advent of archaeology has made ancient sites objects of great scientific and public interest, but it has also attracted unwelcome attention to the works of past peoples. A brisk commercial demand for artifacts encourages looting and the [[illicit antiquities]] trade, which smuggles items abroad to private collectors. Looters damage the integrity of a historic site, deny archaeologists valuable information that would be learnt from excavation, and are often deemed to be robbing local people of their heritage.
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[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Göbekli_Tepe,_Urfa.jpg|right|frame]]
  
The popular consciousness often associates looting with poor [[Third World]] countries. Many are former homes to many well-known ancient civilizations but lack the financial resources or political will to protect even the most significant sites. Certainly, the high prices that intact objects can command relative to a poor farmer's income make looting a tempting financial proposition for some local people. However, looting has taken its toll in places as rich and populous as the United States and Western Europe as well. Abandoned towns of the ancient [[Sinagua]] people of [[Arizona]], clearly visible in the desert landscape, have been destroyed in large numbers by treasure hunters. Sites in more densely populated areas farther east have also been looted. Where looting is proscribed by law it takes place under cover of night, with the [[metal detector]] a common instrument used to identify profitable places to dig.
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'''Archaeology''', or archeology (from [[Greek]] ἀρχαιολογία, archaiologia – ἀρχαῖος, arkhaios, "[[ancient]]"; and -λογία, -logia, "-logy"), is the study of human activity, primarily through the recovery and [[analysis]] of the material [[culture]] and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes [[artifacts]], [[architecture]], biofacts and cultural landscapes (the archaeological record). Because archaeology employs a wide range of different procedures, it can be considered to be both a science and a humanity, and in the United States it is thought of as a branch of [[anthropology]], although in Europe it is viewed as a separate [[discipline]].
  
===Public outreach===
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Archaeology studies human [[history]] from the development of the first stone [[tools]] in eastern Africa 3.4 million years ago up until recent decades. (Archaeology does not include the discipline of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology paleontology].) It is of most importance for learning about prehistoric societies, when there are no written records for historians to study, making up over 99% of total human history, from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaeolithic Palaeolithic] until the advent of literacy in any given society. Archaeology has various [[goals]], which range from studying human [[evolution]] to cultural evolution and understanding culture [[history]].
Motivated by a desire to halt '''looting''', curb '''pseudoarchaeology''', and to secure greater public funding and appreciation for their work, archaeologists are mounting '''public-outreach campaigns'''. [http://www.sonoma.edu/asc/roadshow.html] They seek to stop looting by informing prospective artifact collectors of the provenance of these goods, and by alerting people who live near archaeological sites of the threat of looting and the danger that it poses to science and their own heritage. Common methods of public outreach include press releases and the encouragement of school field trips to sites under excavation by professional archaeologists.
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<center>For lessons on the [[topic]] of '''''Archaeology''''', follow [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Archaeology/TeaM '''''this link'''''].</center>
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The [[discipline]] involves surveyance, 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]], semiology, [[physics]], [[information science]]s, [[chemistry]], statistics, paleoecology, paleontology, paleozoology, paleoethnobotany, and paleobotany.
  
The final audience for archaeologists' work is the public and it is increasingly realised that their work is ultimately being done to benefit and inform them. The putative social benefits of local heritage awareness are also being promoted with initiatives to increase civic and individual pride through projects such as community excavation projects and better interpretation and presentation of existing sites.
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Archaeology developed out of antiquarianism in Europe during the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 19th century], and has since become a [[discipline]] practiced across the world. Since its early development, various specific sub-disciplines of archaeology have developed, including [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_archaeology maritime archaeology], feminist archaeology and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeoastronomy 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 [[artifacts]] and opposition to the excavation of human remains.
  
===Descendant peoples===
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The [[purpose]] of archaeology is to learn more about [[past]] societies and the development of the [[human]] race. Over 99% of the history of [[humanity]] has occurred within [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory prehistoric cultures], who did not make use of [[writing]], thereby not leaving written [[records]] about themselves that we can study today. Without such written sources, the only way to learn about prehistoric societies is to use archaeology. Many important developments in human history occurred during prehistory, including the [[evolution]] of [[humanity]] during the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaeolithic Palaeolithic] period, when the hominins developed from the australopithecines through to the early homos in Africa and finally into [[modern]] Homo sapiens. Archaeology also sheds light on many of [[humanity]]'s technological advances, for instance the ability to use fire, the development of stone [[tools]], the discovery of metallurgy, the beginnings of [[religion]] and the creation of [[agriculture]]. Without archaeology, we would know little or nothing about the use of material culture by [[humanity]] that pre-dates [[writing]].
In the United States, examples such as the case of [[Kennewick Man]] have illustrated the tensions between [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] and archaeologists which can be summarised as a conflict between a need to remain respectful towards burials sacred sites and the academic benefit from studying them. For years, American archaeologists dug on Indian burial grounds and other places considered sacred, removing artifacts and human remains to storage facilities for further study. In some cases human remains were not even thoroughly studied but instead archived rather than reburied. Furthermore, Western archaeologists' views of the past often differ from those of tribal peoples. The West views time as linear; for many natives, it is cyclic. From a Western perspective, the past is long-gone; from a native perspective, disturbing the past can have dire consequences in the present. To an archaeologist, the past is long-gone and must be reconstructed through its material remains; to indigenous peoples, it is often still alive.
 
  
As a consequence of this, American Indians attempted to prevent archaeological excavation of sites inhabited by their ancestors, while American archaeologists believed that the advancement of scientific knowledge was a valid reason to continue their studies. This contradictory situation was addressed by the [[Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act]] (NAGPRA, 1990), which sought to reach a compromise by limiting the right of research institutions to possess human remains. Due in part to the spirit of postprocessualism, some archaeologists have begun to actively enlist the assistance of [[indigenous peoples]] likely to be descended from those under study.
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However, it is not only prehistoric, pre-literate [[cultures]] that can be studied using archaeology but [[historic]], literate cultures as well, through the sub-discipline of historical archaeology. For many literate cultures, such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece Ancient Greece] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia Mesopotamia], their surviving records are often incomplete and biased to some extent. In many societies, literacy was restricted to the elite classes, such as the clergy or the [[bureaucracy]] of [[court]] or [[temple]]. The literacy even of [[aristocrats]] has sometimes been restricted to deeds and contracts. The interests and world-view of [[elites]] are often quite different from the lives and interests of the populace. Writings that were produced by people more representative of the general population were unlikely to find their way into libraries and be preserved there for posterity. Thus, written [[records]] tend to reflect the biases, [[assumptions]], cultural [[values]] and possibly deceptions of a limited range of [[individuals]], usually a small fraction of the larger [[population]]. Hence, written [[records]] cannot be trusted as a sole source. The material record may be closer to a fair [[representation]] of [[society]], though it is subject to its own biases, such as sampling bias and differential preservation.
  
Archaeologists have also been obliged to re-examine what constitutes an archaeological site in view of what native peoples believe to constitute sacred space. To many native peoples, natural features such as lakes, mountains or even individual trees have cultural significance. Australian archaeologists especially have explored this issue and attempted to survey these sites in order to give them some protection from being developed. Such work requires close links and trust between archaeologists and the people they are trying to help and at the same time study.
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There is no one singular approach to [[archaeological]] [[theory]] that has been adhered to by all archaeologists. When archaeology developed in the late [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 19th century], the first approach to archaeological [[theory]] to be [[practiced]] was that of cultural-history archaeology, which held the goal of explaining why cultures changed and adapted rather than just highlighting the [[fact]] that they did, therefore emphasizing historical particularism. In the early [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_century 20th century], many archaeologists who studied past societies with direct continuing links to existing ones (such as those of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas Native Americans], Siberians, Mesoamericans etc.) followed the direct historical approach, compared the [[continuity]] between the [[past]] and contemporary ethnic and cultural groups. In the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960's 1960s], an archaeological movement largely led by American archaeologists like Lewis Binford and Kent Flannery arose that rebelled against the established cultural-history archaeology. They proposed a "New Archaeology", which would be more "scientific" and "anthropological", with [[hypothesis]] testing and the [[scientific method]] very important parts of what became known as processual archaeology.
  
While this cooperation presents a new set of challenges and hurdles to fieldwork, it has benefits for all parties involved. Tribal elders cooperating with archaeologists can prevent the excavation of areas of sites that they consider sacred, while the archaeologists gain the elders' aid in interpreting their finds. There have also been active efforts to recruit aboriginal peoples directly into the archaeological profession.
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In the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980's 1980s], a new [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism postmodern] movement arose led by the British archaeologists Michael Shanks, Christopher Tilley, Daniel Miller, and Ian Hodder, which has become known as post-processual archaeology. It questioned processualism's appeals to scientific positivism and impartiality, and emphasised the importance of a more self-critical theoretical reflexivity. However, this approach has been criticized by processualists as lacking scientific rigor, and the validity of both processualism and post-processualism is still under [[debate]]. Meanwhile, another [[theory]], known as historical processualism has emerged seeking to incorporate a [[focus]] on process and post-processual archaeology's emphasis of reflexivity and [[history]].
  
====Repatriation====
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Archaeological theory now borrows from a wide range of [[influences]], including [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution neo-Darwinian evolutionary thought], phenomenology, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeology postmodernism], agency theory, cognitive science, Structural functionalism, gender-based and Feminist archaeology, and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_theory_in_archaeology Systems theory].[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeology]
A new trend in the heated controversy between [[First Nations]] groups and scientists is the [[repatriation]] of native [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] to the original descendants. An example of this occurred [[June 21]], [[2005]], when community members and elders from a number of the 10 [[Algonquian]] nations in the [[Ottawa]] area convened on the Kitigan Zibi reservation in [[Kanawagi, Quebec]], to inter ancestral human remains and burial goods — some dating back 6,000 years.
 
 
 
The ceremony marked the end of a journey spanning thousands of years and many miles. The remains and artifacts, including [[beads]], [[tool]]s and [[weapons]], were originally excavated from various sites in the [[Ottawa Valley]], including [[Morrison]] and the [[Allumette Islands]]. They had been part of the [[Canadian Museum of Civilization]]’s research collection for decades, some since the late 1800s. Elders from various Algonquin communities conferred on an appropriate reburial, eventually deciding on traditional [[redcedar]] and [[birchbark]] boxes lined with redcedar chips, [[muskrat]] and [[beaver pelts]].
 
 
 
Now, an inconspicuous rock mound marks the reburial site where close to 90 boxes of various sizes are buried. Although negotiations were at times tense between the Kitigan Zibi community and museum, they were able to reach agreement.[http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/SO05/indepth/archaeology.asp] Canadian Geographic Online }}
 
 
 
 
=== Lists ===
 
: ''Main list: [[List of basic archaeology topics]]''
 
 
 
* [[List of archaeological periods]]
 
* [[List of archaeological sites sorted by country]]
 
* [[List of archaeologists]]
 
* [[List of prominent paleoethnobotanists]]
 
 
 
=== Related topics ===
 
* [[Archaeoacoustics]]
 
* [[Biblical archaeology]]
 
* [[Excavation]]
 
* [[Prehistory]]
 
* [[GIS in archaeology]]
 
* [[Virtual artifact]]
 
* [[Archaeological sub-disciplines]]
 
* [[Indiana Jones]]
 
*''[[Queen of the Mountain]]''
 
 
 
 
 
==External links==
 
 
 
* [http://www.archaeologynews.org Archaeology News] Current News and Information pertaining to all areas of archaeology, plus free news feeds for webmasters.
 
* [http://nefer-seba.net/Archaeological-Fieldwork.php Excavation Sites] Archaeological work and volunteer pages.
 
* [http://www.career-descriptions.co.uk/archaeologist-career-description.htm Archaeologists career description]
 
* [http://www.anthropology-resources.net/ Anthropology Resources on the Internet] - Anthropology Resources on the Internet: a web directory, part of the WWW Virtual Library, with over 4000 links grouped in specialised topics.
 
* [http://www.archaeology.org/ ''Archaeology'' magazine] published by the Archaeological Institute of America
 
* [http://www.archaeologydirectory.com/ Archaeology Directory] - Directory of archaeological topics on the web.
 
* [http://www.territorioscuola.com/tsodp/dmoz.php3?browse=/Science/Social_Sciences/Archaeology/ TerritorioScuola ODP - Archaeology Resources]
 
* [http://www.shovelbums.org ShovelBums] - 12,500 professional archaeologists use this free and moderated service to find archaeology, CRM, academic jobs and training opportunities.
 
* [http://www.eculturalresources.com/jobs.php Archaeology Jobs] - Archaeology jobs, news and resources at eCultural Resources. A free service for job seekers and archaeology enthusiasts.
 
* [http://www.archaeologyfieldwork.com Archaeologyfieldwork.com] - Archaeology employment listings, resume and cv postings, cultural resource management firms throughout the world, volunteer opportunities, field schools, internships, photos, discussion forums, and other resources for those in the internet archaeological community.
 
  
 
[[Category: General Reference]]
 
[[Category: General Reference]]
[[Category: Classics]]
 
 
[[Category: Archaeology]]
 
[[Category: Archaeology]]

Latest revision as of 23:42, 12 December 2020

Lighterstill.jpg

Göbekli Tepe, Urfa.jpg

Archaeology, or archeology (from Greek ἀρχαιολογία, archaiologia – ἀρχαῖος, arkhaios, "ancient"; and -λογία, -logia, "-logy"), is the study of human activity, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes (the archaeological record). Because archaeology employs a wide range of different procedures, it can be considered to be both a science and a humanity, and 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. (Archaeology does not include the discipline of paleontology.) It is of most importance for learning about prehistoric societies, when there are no written records for historians to study, making up over 99% of total human history, from the Palaeolithic until the advent of literacy in any given society. Archaeology has various goals, which range from studying human evolution to cultural evolution and understanding culture history.

For lessons on the topic of Archaeology, follow this link.

The discipline involves surveyance, 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, semiology, physics, information sciences, chemistry, statistics, paleoecology, paleontology, paleozoology, paleoethnobotany, and paleobotany.

Archaeology developed out of antiquarianism in Europe during the 19th century, and has since become a discipline practiced 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 artifacts and opposition to the excavation of human remains.

The purpose of archaeology is to learn more about past societies and the development of the human race. Over 99% of the history of humanity has occurred within prehistoric cultures, who did not make use of writing, thereby not leaving written records about themselves that we can study today. Without such written sources, the only way to learn about prehistoric societies is to use archaeology. Many important developments in human history occurred during prehistory, including the evolution of humanity during the Palaeolithic period, when the hominins developed from the australopithecines through to the early homos in Africa and finally into modern Homo sapiens. Archaeology also sheds light on many of humanity's technological advances, for instance the ability to use fire, the development of stone tools, the discovery of metallurgy, the beginnings of religion and the creation of agriculture. Without archaeology, we would know little or nothing about the use of material culture by humanity that pre-dates writing.

However, it is not only prehistoric, pre-literate cultures that can be studied using archaeology but historic, literate cultures as well, through the sub-discipline of historical archaeology. For many literate cultures, such as Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia, their surviving records are often incomplete and biased to some extent. In many societies, literacy was restricted to the elite classes, such as the clergy or the bureaucracy of court or temple. The literacy even of aristocrats has sometimes been restricted to deeds and contracts. The interests and world-view of elites are often quite different from the lives and interests of the populace. Writings that were produced by people more representative of the general population were unlikely to find their way into libraries and be preserved there for posterity. Thus, written records tend to reflect the biases, assumptions, cultural values and possibly deceptions of a limited range of individuals, usually a small fraction of the larger population. Hence, written records cannot be trusted as a sole source. The material record may be closer to a fair representation of society, though it is subject to its own biases, such as sampling bias and differential preservation.

There is no one singular approach to archaeological theory that has been adhered to by all archaeologists. When archaeology developed in the late 19th century, the first approach to archaeological theory to be practiced was that of cultural-history archaeology, which held the goal of explaining why cultures changed and adapted rather than just highlighting the fact that they did, therefore emphasizing historical particularism. In the early 20th century, many archaeologists who studied past societies with direct continuing links to existing ones (such as those of Native Americans, Siberians, Mesoamericans etc.) followed the direct historical approach, compared the continuity between the past and contemporary ethnic and cultural groups. In the 1960s, an archaeological movement largely led by American archaeologists like Lewis Binford and Kent Flannery arose that rebelled against the established cultural-history archaeology. They proposed a "New Archaeology", which would be more "scientific" and "anthropological", with hypothesis testing and the scientific method very important parts of what became known as processual archaeology.

In the 1980s, a new postmodern movement arose led by the British archaeologists Michael Shanks, Christopher Tilley, Daniel Miller, and Ian Hodder, which has become known as post-processual archaeology. It questioned processualism's appeals to scientific positivism and impartiality, and emphasised the importance of a more self-critical theoretical reflexivity. However, this approach has been criticized by processualists as lacking scientific rigor, and the validity of both processualism and post-processualism is still under debate. Meanwhile, another theory, known as historical processualism has emerged seeking to incorporate a focus on process and post-processual archaeology's emphasis of reflexivity and history.

Archaeological theory now borrows from a wide range of influences, including neo-Darwinian evolutionary thought, phenomenology, postmodernism, agency theory, cognitive science, Structural functionalism, gender-based and Feminist archaeology, and Systems theory.[1]