Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek ἀρχαιολογία, archaiologia – ἀρχαῖος, archaīos, "primal, ancient, old"; and -λογία, -logia) is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, features, biofacts, and landscapes. Because archaeology's aim is to understand humankind, it is a humanistic endeavor.[1] Because the pioneers of Archaeology in the United States were interested in the history and antiquity of Native American peoples, in the United States it is a subset of anthropology, which contains: physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology.[2] However, in some universities in America and many in the United Kingdom and Europe, archaeology is considered as a separate discipline entirely. This is primarily because early archaeology in Europe developed out of other disciplines, especially history, classics, and art history.
There is debate as to what archaeology's goals are. Some goals include the documentation and explanation of the origins and development of human cultures, understanding culture history, chronicling cultural evolution, and studying human behavior and ecology, for both prehistoric and historic societies[citation needed].
Archaeologists are also concerned with the study of methods used in the discipline, and the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings underlying the questions archaeologists ask of the past. The tasks of surveying areas in order to find new sites, excavating sites in order to recover cultural remains, classification, analysis, and preservation are all important phases of the archaeological process. Given the broad scope of the discipline, there is cross-disciplinary research in archaeology. It draws upon anthropology, history, art history, classics, ethnology, geography,[3] geology,[4][5][6] linguistics, physics, information sciences, chemistry, statistics, paleoecology, paleontology, paleozoology, paleoethnobotany, and paleobotany.
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Northampton Chronicle & Echo
Historians have objected to the proposed expansion of the Tesco supermarket in Towcester, saying it could destroy a site of national archaeological ...
Superstore expansion is a step closer Northampton Chronicle & Echo
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Co chief scientist Hans Van Tilburg collects mock data while running through baseline trilateration exercise with his underwater archaeology team Photo
