"Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture."
Explanation and interpretation of archaeological remains and discoveries.
Culture: Study of human behavior and evolution of cultures over time.
Society: Analysis of social organization and structure.
Material Culture: Study of objects and artifacts of previous societies, particularly those that have been preserved through time.
Anthropology: The study of humans, particularly their behavior, culture, and physical characteristics.
Evolution: Looking at how societies change and develop over time.
Stratification: Study of the different layers of society, particularly in relation to social status and wealth.
Gender: Study of gender roles and the social construction of gender in past societies.
Colonialism: Study of the impact of colonialism on past societies.
Post-colonialism: Analysis of the impact of colonialism on present day societies.
Archaeological Methodology: Review of the methods used by archaeologists, particularly how they interpret and analyze data.
Materiality: A focus on the significance and interpretation of material culture.
Structuralism: A theoretical approach emphasizing the relationship between elements in a society.
Functionalism: An approach that focuses on the role of institutions and cultural practices within society.
Post-processualism: An approach that critiques the way in which archaeology has traditionally been practiced and seeks to provide new tools and methods.
Cultural Resource Management: Concept of conservation and preservation of archaeological sites and artifacts.
Interpretation: Analysis and interpretation of archaeological findings and how they can differ depending on cultural contexts.
Cognitive Archaeology: Focus on understanding past human cognition, particularly how it affects cultural practices and artifact creation.
Ethnoarchaeology: The process of studying present-day societies and cultures in relation to the archaeological record.
Archaeology of Identity: A focus on the role played by identity within archaeological contexts.
Landscape Archaeology: The study of human interaction with physical landscapes over time.
Culture-Historical Theory:: It emphasizes the classification and chronological order of the cultural artifacts.
Processual Archaeology:: It focuses on scientific research and explanation of past societies' behavior through the material record.
Post-Processual Archaeology:: It highlights interpretive and critical approaches to understand the archaeological record by subjective interpretations.
Systemic Archaeology:: It holds that the archaeological record is produced from repetitive human behavior that creates systems, each with its logic or 'Rules.'.
Marxist Archaeology:: It analyzes the relationships between modes of production or social and economic class that shapes and aims for human evolution.
Feminist Archaeology:: It examines the relationships of power and gender in Archaeology's social context.
Cognitive Archaeology:: It applies cognitive theories and techniques like Artificial Intelligence, to investigate the mental processes, behaviors, and experiences of past societies.
Historical Archaeology:: It investigates the material record of the past societies, mainly for the post-Columbus era.
Archaeomythology:: It applies mythological concepts and narratives to complement the archaeological data.
Anthropological Archaeology:: It relates ancient cultures with contemporary social systems, emphasizing the shared present-day human experience.
"The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes."
"It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history, or geography."
"Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades."
"Archaeology is distinct from paleontology, which is the study of fossil remains."
"Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for which, by definition, there are no written records."
"Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the advent of literacy in societies around the world."
"Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time."
"Derived from the Greek, the term archaeology literally means 'the study of ancient history.'"
"The discipline involves surveying, excavation, and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past."
"Archaeology developed out of antiquarianism in Europe during the 19th century and has since become a discipline practiced around the world."
"Archaeology has been used by nation-states to create particular visions of the past."
"Various specific sub-disciplines of archaeology have developed, including maritime archaeology, feminist archaeology, and archaeoastronomy."
"Nonetheless, today, archaeologists face many problems, such as dealing with pseudoarchaeology, the looting of artifacts, a lack of public interest, and opposition to the excavation of human remains."