What%20is%20Archaeology?

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What is Archaeology?
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Archeology
The study of things that earlier people left
behind.
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Archeology
The study of things that earlier people left
behind.
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Archaeologist
Someone who tries to figure out what life was
like in the ancient past by looking at the
remains of ancient people their fossils and
their artifacts.
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Archaeologist
Someone who tries to figure out what life was
like in the ancient past by looking at the
remains of ancient people their fossils and
their artifacts.
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Fossils/Artifacts
An archaeologist must know the difference between
an artifact and a fossil.
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Archaeologist
Artifacts are remains of things that were made,
NOT the remains of living things.
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Archaeologist
Fossils are remains of living things (plants,
animals, people), not of things that were made.
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What is a site?
A "site" is a place archaeologists wish to
explore.
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What is a site?
Archaeologists call the site a dig.
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What is a site?
Archaeologists call the site a dig. Why?
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Finding a site
How do archaeologists find sites to explore?
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Finding a site
How do archaeologists find sites to explore?
1. They think about what people need to stay
alive.
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Finding a site
How do archaeologists find sites to explore?

• 1. They think about what people need to stay
  alive.
• clean drinking water
• a protected place to live
• easy access to trade routes

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Finding a site
So where do you think archaeologists look for a
site?
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Finding a site
1. Archaeologists look for remains of
civilizations along the banks of rivers and
streams.
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Finding a site
2. Archaeologists check out reports of artifacts
that have been discovered. Some farmers and
construction companies have discovered artifacts
while working at their jobs.
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Finding a site
3. Archaeologists check the land from the air,
looking for large depressions that could be the
ruins of an ancient living area.
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Finding a site
4. They use scientific instruments like
radar and sonar to look for ruins.
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Permission to Dig
An archaeologist must receive permission to
explore a site.  Once permission is received,
archaeologists work in teams with other
archaeologists.
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Grids Labeling
Before they begin digging, archaeologists design
a grid on the ground using rope and string.
Each square in the grid must be carefully
searched. A record must be kept of anything
found,
including what was found next to it.
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Tools of the Trade

• The tools archaeologists use are
• sometimes very simple
• trowels
• brushes
• spoons
• dental picks
• sieves
• saws
• dustpans
• wheelbarrows.
• They search each grid very carefully. Digging at
  a site is slow and careful work.

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Back in the Lab
Once objects are labeled and removed from a site,
they are taken to a lab, relabeled, and placed
into a database. Archaeologists use this
information to put together pieces of the past.
It takes a great deal of education, training,
patience, and attention to detail to work
as an archaeologist.
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Fossils/Artifacts
The job of an archaeologist is a great deal like
the job of a detective. Here are some puzzles
for you to solve.

• While planting my garden, I found a three-foot
  long bone made out of stone. Did I find a fossil
  or an artifact?
• While exploring in the woods near my house, I
  found an old arrowhead. Did I find a fossil or
  an artifact?