Test Your Archaeology Knowledge

A Brief History of Archaeology

• Archaeology is the study of human activity in the past through the recovery and analysis of material culture and environmental data.

• The field of archaeology developed from an interest in the past, dating back to ancient kings and queens who wanted to show the past glories of their respective nations.

• The first known archaeologist was Nabonidus of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who excavated, surveyed, and restored sites built over a millennium earlier under Naram-sin of Akkad.

• Herodotus, a Greek historian, was the first western scholar to systematically collect artifacts and test their accuracy, and to make a compelling narrative of the past.

• Antiquarians collected artifacts and displayed them in cabinets of curios, and focused on empirical evidence to understand the past.

• During the Song Dynasty period in China, educated gentry became interested in antiquarian pursuits of art collecting, while Neo-Confucian scholar-officials were concerned with archaeological pursuits to revive the use of ancient relics in state rituals.

• In Europe, interest in the remains of Greco-Roman civilization began in the Late Middle Ages, and antiquarianism emerged in the Renaissance with Flavio Biondo and Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli.

• In the late 18th to 19th century, archaeology became a national endeavor and personal collections turned into national museums.

• Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments in England were among the first sites to undergo archaeological excavation.

• William Cunnington was the father of archaeological excavation, who undertook excavations in Wiltshire from around 1798 and made meticulous recordings of mainly neolithic and Bronze Age barrows.

• 19th century archaeology saw the development of stratigraphy, borrowed from geological and palaeontological work, and the idea of deep time, established by Jacques Boucher de Perthes.

• Johann Joachim Winckelmann was a founder of scientific archaeology by first applying empirical categories of style to the classical history of art and architecture.The Development of Archaeology as a Science

• Archaeology was seen as an amateur pastime by scholars in the mid-19th century.

• Augustus Pitt Rivers is regarded as the first scientific archaeologist due to his highly methodical approach to excavations, typological arrangement of artefacts, and insistence on collecting and cataloguing all artefacts, not just beautiful or unique ones.

• William Flinders Petrie is also known as the father of archaeology due to his scientific investigation of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, development of dating layers based on pottery and ceramic findings, and mentoring of a whole generation of Egyptologists.

• Heinrich Schliemann, Frank Calvert, Wilhelm Dörpfeld, and Carl Blegen carried out the first stratigraphic excavation that reached wide popularity with the public on the site of ancient Troy, and distinguished nine successive cities from prehistory to the Hellenistic period.

• Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos in Crete revealed the ancient existence of an advanced civilization.

• The work of these archaeologists helped raise the profile of archaeology considerably.

• Modern methodology in archaeology includes the use of technology such as LiDAR and 3D laser scanning, as well as a focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement.

• Archaeologists also prioritize ethical considerations such as the preservation of cultural heritage and the involvement of local communities in the research process.

• The discipline is now recognized as a rigorous science and requires specialized training and expertise.

• Archaeologists work in a variety of settings, including academia, museums, and government agencies.

• Archaeology has contributed significantly to our understanding of human history and cultural diversity.

• However, the discipline continues to face challenges such as limited funding, looting and destruction of archaeological sites, and the need for more diverse representation in the field.