Archaeology

Archaeology is the study of past human cultures and is based on interpreting the physical remains that have been left behind: buildings; tombs; tools; and other objects of everyday life. Over the past 125 years, archaeology has developed a distinct methodology, somewhat akin to the work of detectives at a crime scene, for reconstructing the past from the material evidence. Although sharing with history a concern with the past, the focus in archaeology is more on what people actually did rather than on what they say they did in written texts. For societies with no written records, archaeology is the primary means for establishing the past. Since it focuses on the powerful, as well as those who actually did the work, it has sometimes been said that archaeology is more democratic than history.