The archeology Is the area of knowledge that studies the cultural behavior of ancient civilizations, through the analysis of objects or artifacts that belonged to these groups in the past.
It is one of the Branches of anthropology , The science in charge of the general study of the human being and its culture.
Archeology is responsible for analyzing objects - such as tools, articles of clothing or decoration - and through these physical means to explain the uses, customs and activities that were done in antiquity.
Thanks to archeology we can know from cultures of the last century to the ancient civilizations of prehistory.
He has the quality of being considered in the study of the humanities because of his analysis of man and his cultures, but also works with the methodological rigor of classical science.
Archeology follows a process that makes use of techniques, tools, hypotheses and observation to engage its results.
It is a practice centuries old, thanks to the fact that the human being has demonstrated throughout his existence the interest of studying himself.
However, it was not until the implementation of various techniques and disciplines developed in the era of illustration - eighteenth century - that archeology became this specialized practice that we know now.
What is archeology?
Archeology is a very broad area of knowledge that takes up other human and biological sciences. His studies serve for a better understanding of the history and different cultures that have developed in the world.
It is the only area of study that has penetrated all the different historical epochs of humanity and the geographical areas of the planet.
It is important to know the reasons for their study, since archeology has provided an invaluable amount of knowledge about the past of our species.
Archeology is dedicated to obtaining and analyzing objects to know about the cultures of the past.
To do this, the objects obtained through extractions and collections must be accessed; However, processes such as excavation are considered destructive. For the sake of archeology, many of these objects can be found with the naked eye.
Despite being in contact with plants and animals, these are not the object of study for archeology, but for other areas such as biological anthropology. Similarly, the study of ancient species, such as dinosaurs, belong to paleontology.
In the study of a skull ornamented with gold, for example, the anthropologist would describe the physical characteristics of the skull, while the archaeologist would analyze the culture to which this object belonged and establish that gold was a form of body decoration according to social status .
Through the use of objects to gain knowledge about the past, archeology has a scope beyond other areas of study, such as history .
Knowledge about prehistory Were largely due to archeology, because being an undocumented era - there was no writing - could only be studied through their objects.
The work of the archaeologist
The archaeologist has a career very similar to that of the scientist. Thanks to their imagery in fiction stories, it is common for them to be thought of as people who travel to exotic places, but in reality they often perform in labs and museums.
Their job is to analyze and make hypotheses, to test objects and to make use of technologies.
Usually, the product of this work is cured for samples in museums, so in fact it is a detailed scientific work.
What is an archeological site?
The archaeologist examines the objects in his laboratory, but where does he get them? An archaeological site is all space where vestiges of the past are found.
It can be considered an archaeological site as much a huge structure as the pyramids of Egypt, an old house in the middle of a modern city or even a ship sunk in the ocean.
The most common archaeological sites where a wide variety of artifacts can be obtained are, for example, Indian reservations, old military settlements, cemeteries, plantations, former slavery houses, concentration camps or old factories, among many others.
Different types of archeology
The work of the archaeologist is usually associated with certain geographical areas, but this is not a fluke.
Archeology is based in rich areas of history and archaeological sites, so there is, for example, the archeology of ancient civilizations that is centered in Central America, China and Egypt due to the richness of its ancient cultures.
Another area of archeology focuses on the depths of the sea and its object of study are sunken vessels, objects carried by the current or even entire cities that have been submerged after rising sea level over the years.
The archeology of prehistory has its niche in the artifacts of the first settlers, generally found in objects of hunting or daily use.
In the old continents, the discoveries can date back many thousands of years, while in the Americas, for historical reasons, it can only be traced back a few millennia ago.
Finally, classical archeology focuses on the study of the great European civilizations: Greece and Rome; Biblical archeology is limited to investigating evidence of the existence of these religious figures that are speculated to have inhabited the Middle East.
The future of archeology
Archeology evolved completely thanks to the use of technologies that were available from 1800, and these advances have not stopped innovating.
At present, new tools such as Google Earth Give a panoramic view of hidden sites, which can benefit both experts and fans on the subject.
With space explorations of the future, archeology is expected to join forces with other sciences such as physics, biology and astronomy, and experts are even hoping to venture into the search for artifacts and non-human remains that may be found beyond our planet .
References
- Crow Canyon (s.f.) The Archaeological Process. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center . Retrieved from crowcanyon.org.
- Fort Ancient (2013) Archeology. Fort Ancient . Retrieved from fortancient.org.
- Jarus, W. (2014) What is Archeology? Live Science . Retrieved from livescience.com.
- SAA (s.f.) What is Archeology? Society for American Archeology . Retrieved from saa.org.
- Vianello, A. (1999) The Study of Archeology. Bronze Age. Recovered from bronzeage.org.uk.