Archaeology

The goals of archaeology are to document and explain the origins and development of human culture, understand culture history, chronicle cultural evolution, and study human behaviour and ecology, for both prehistoric and historic societies.

Ontology and definition

In the Old World, archaeology has tended to focus on the study of physical remains, the methods used in recovering them and the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings in achieving the subject's goals. The discipline's roots in antiquarianism and the study of Latin and Ancient Greek provided it with a natural affinity with the field of history. In the New World, archaeology is more commonly devoted to the study of human societies and is treated as one of the four subfields of Anthropology. The other subfields of anthropology supplement the findings of archaeology in a holistic manner. These subfields are cultural anthropology, which studies behavioural, symbolic, and material dimensions of culture; linguistics, which studies language, including the origins of language and language groups; and physical anthropology, which includes the study of human evolution and physical and genetic characteristics. Other disciplines also supplement archaeology, such as paleontology, paleozoology, paleoethnobotany, paleobotany, geography, geology, art history, and classics.

Related Topics:
Old World - Antiquarian - Latin - Ancient Greek - History - New World - Societies - Anthropology - Cultural anthropology - Linguistics - Physical anthropology - Genetic - Paleontology - Paleozoology - Paleoethnobotany - Paleobotany - Geography - Geology - Art history - Classics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Archaeology has been described as a craft that enlists the sciences to illuminate the humanities. Writing in 1948, the American archaeologist Walter Taylor asserted that "Archaeology is neither history nor anthropology. As an autonomous discipline, it consists of a method and a set of specialised techniques for the gathering, or 'production' of cultural information".

Related Topics:
Craft - Sciences - Humanities - Walter Taylor

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Archaeology is an approach to understanding human culture through its material remains regardless of chronology. In England, archaeologists have uncovered the long-lost layouts of medieval villages abandoned after the crises of the 14th century and the equally lost layouts of 17th century parterre gardens swept away by a change in fashion. In downtown New York City archaeologists have exhumed the 18th century remains of the Black burial ground. Traditional Archaeology is viewed as the study of pre-historical human cultures; that is cultures that existed before the development of writing for that culture. Historical archaeology is the study of post-writing cultures.

Related Topics:
England - 14th century - 17th century - New York City - 18th century - Writing - Historical archaeology

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the study of relatively recent cultures, which have been observed and studied by Western scholars, archaeology is closely allied with ethnography. This is the case in large parts of North America, Oceania, Siberia, and other places where the study of archaeology mingles with the living traditions of the cultures being studied. Kennewick_Man is an example of archaeology interacting with modern culture. In the study of cultures that were literate or had literate neighbours, history and archaeology supplement one another for broader understanding of the complete cultural context, as at Hadrian's Wall.

Related Topics:
Ethnography - North America - Oceania - Siberia - Kennewick_Man - History - Hadrian's Wall

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~