Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 49 views

    What Is Archaeology

    Uploaded by

    Nur Filzahruz Mohamad Sah
    Archaeology is the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation and analysis of material remains and artifacts. It seeks to understand the development of human societies from their earliest beginnings to their extinction by examining tools, weapons, buildings, and other objects left behind. The interpretation of artifacts and their context provides information about how civilizations lived and changed over time. Archaeology reveals the story of man through what he left behind.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    What Is Archaeology

    Uploaded by

    Nur Filzahruz Mohamad Sah
    49 views2 pages
    Archaeology is the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation and analysis of material remains and artifacts. It seeks to understand the development of human societies from their earliest beginnings to their extinction by examining tools, weapons, buildings, and other objects left behind. The interpretation of artifacts and their context provides information about how civilizations lived and changed over time. Archaeology reveals the story of man through what he left behind.

    Original Title

    What is Archaeology

    Copyright

    © Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Archaeology is the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation and analysis of material remains and artifacts. It seeks to understand the development of human societies from their earliest beginnings to their extinction by examining tools, weapons, buildings, and other objects left behind. The interpretation of artifacts and their context provides information about how civilizations lived and changed over time. Archaeology reveals the story of man through what he left behind.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    49 views2 pages

    What Is Archaeology

    Uploaded by

    Nur Filzahruz Mohamad Sah
    Archaeology is the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation and analysis of material remains and artifacts. It seeks to understand the development of human societies from their earliest beginnings to their extinction by examining tools, weapons, buildings, and other objects left behind. The interpretation of artifacts and their context provides information about how civilizations lived and changed over time. Archaeology reveals the story of man through what he left behind.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    You are on page 1of 2

    WHAT IS ARCHAEOLOGY?

    by
    LEONARD COTTRELL

    "The scientific study of antiquities" says one dictionary - a very inadequate definition. We
    shall get nearer to the truth if we examine the Greek foundation of the word: archaios-
    ancient;
    arché, beginning; logos, discourse. A discourse based on an examination of man's
    beginnings; is
    that the answer? Only a partial one, for archaeology is often also concerned with endings;
    there are few things the archaeologist likes better than a site which has been subjected, in
    an-
    cient times, to sudden and catastrophic destruction (Pompeii, for instance). From the death
    of a
    city, a culture, or a civilization, we can learn a great deal about its life. There is also the
    equally
    important question of development. Archaeological research can reveal to us change,
    progress
    or deterioration; it is a continuing story which begins with the first appearance of man on
    earth,
    and will only end with the final extinction of the species.

    Essentially, then, archaeology is the story of man, as revealed by the things he has left be-
    hind, whether these are tools, weapons, household articles, furniture, ornaments, buildings,
    tombs, human or animal remains. Written records on stone, clay, or papyrus are obviously
    important too, but they appear relatively late in human history, within the last 5,000 years,
    and
    then only in certain limited areas. Most archaeological knowledge is derived from the
    interpre-
    tation of things, and not only things in themselves. We may identify an object and
    understand
    its purpose and function; but equally important is the situation in which it is found, its
    associa-
    tion with other objects, or with identifiable soil or rock strata, and its similarity or
    dissimilarity
    to objects found on other sites.

    Again the study of stratigraphy helps us to establish comparative dates from the levels at
    which things are found; that of typology enables us to follow the development of a people or

    "culture" from stylistic changes in the things they made and used. Other specialists can help
    the archaeologist in his work; the anatomist and the palaeontologist tell him about the
    physical
    appearance of ancient peoples by examining their bones. The palaeobotanist, by
    microscopic
    examination of seeds, pollen, and other surviving vegetable remains, helps to build up a
    picture
    of the flora existing in ancient times, and the climatologist the type of weather. In recent
    years
    the nuclear physicist has provided an invaluable technique for dating objects made of
    organic
    matter, by measuring the amount of radioactivity present in it.

    An old-style antiquarian such as Sir Thomas Browne, who wrote so movingly about "funer-
    ary urnes lately discovered in a field in Norfolk" would be bewildered by the technical
    language
    of the modern archaeologist. It is a far cry from Browne's "to be pyramidally extant is a
    fallacy
    in duration" to the following title of an article in an Egyptological journal "A special use of
    the sdm.f and sdm.n.f Forms". . .

    The Editor admits that his sympathies are with Sir Thomas Browne. While respecting and
    admiring the technical expertise of the modern archaeologist, and recognizing the need for
    the

    -17-
    Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com

    Publication Information: Book Title: The Concise Encyclopedia of Archaeology. Contributors:


    Leonard Cottrell - editor. Publisher: Hawthorn Books. Place of Publication: New York.
    Publication Year: 1960. Page Number: 17.

    You might also like