the.com/archaeology
the polite science of digging up everyone's garbage and calling it heritage
means the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation and analysis of physical remains — bones, tools, ruins, and the debris of past lives.
from From Greek arkhaiologia, 'the study of ancient things,' joining arkhaios ('ancient,' from arkhē, 'beginning') with -logia ('study of,' from logos, 'word' or 'reason'). It first meant simply the discussion of antiquity; only later did it sink into the dirt and become the science of the spade.
- job hazard
- early diggers often looted more than they documented
- trash treasure
- ancient middens reveal more than royal tombs
- slow work
- a single site can take decades to excavate
- trowel rules
- the basic tool barely changed in a century
- buried deep
- most of human history is still underground
tutankhamun's tomb — discovered by howard carter in valley of the kings, egypt, 1922
rosetta stone — black granite slab from ptolemaic egypt, 196 bce, unlocked hieroglyphics
pompeii — roman city buried by mount vesuvius eruption in 79 ce, italy
terracotta army — 8,000 clay soldiers in qin dynasty tomb near xi'an, china, 210 bce