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What is archaeology? -

Archaeology is the scientific study of the ancient and recent human past through material remains. The word archaeology comes from the Greek archaia ("ancient things") and logos ("theory" or "science").

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Becoming an archaeologist -

Most professional archaeologists have a degree (often in anthropology) and many also have a postgraduate qualification. Besides academic skillsets, an archaeologist needs persistence, determination, and self-motivation, plus an insatiable desire to delve into the past.

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Fields of specialization -

There are several different fields of archaeology that you can specialize in. Historical archaeologists, for example, study both artifacts as well as written evidence regarding a particular time period in history. A classical archaeologist, however, specializes only in the history of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Other branches of the profession include environmental, industrial, aviation, and underwater archaeology. Closely related to archaeology is ethnoarchaeology— the ethnographic study of peoples to determine their habits, customs, and cultures.

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What does an archaeologist do? -

The role of an archaeologist includes examining, recovering, and preserving evidence of human activity from past cultures. This work entails analyzing human remains and artifacts, anything from tools and pottery to cave paintings and building ruins.

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Collecting the past -

Often incredibly rare and invariably priceless, these artifacts are carefully cleaned, sorted, catalogued, and stored. Many eventually end up on display in museums and similar cultural institutions around the world.

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An illustrious profession -

Data collected from excavation sites help archaeologists form conclusions about patterns of behavior, culture, and other aspects of human life. And today's professionals are following in the footsteps of several very illustrious predecessors, and some truly remarkable discoveries.

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Who was the first archaeologist? -

History generally regards Nabonidus as being the first archaeologist. As the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from 556–539 BCE, Nabonidus ordered excavations to be made at the sites of ruined temples. The photograph depicts a stele, or stone slab, commemorating Nabonidus restoring the temple of Sin in 552 BCE.

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Cylinders of Nabonidus -

By exploring former temple sites, Nabonidus was ostensibly seeking the names of those who built them. We know this because he later described his work on clay cylinders, in cuneiform inscription. Known as the Cylinders of Nabonidus, they were unearthed in 1854 by John George Taylor, an archaeologist investigating the antiquities of the Middle East.

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Ouyang Xiu -

The 11th-century Chinese historian, calligrapher, essayist, and politician Ouyang Xiu studied objects of antiquity and compiled an important analytical catalogue of ancient rubbings on stone and bronze.

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Cyriacus of Ancona -

Cyriacus of Ancona, the 15th-century Italian humanist and antiquarian, is considered the "father of classical archaeology" for his detailed on-site observations in lands of the Ottoman Empire.

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Pompeii and Herculaneum -

It was an architect, Domenico Fontana, who first discovered the ruins of Pompeii, in the late 16th century. Herculaneum was discovered in 1709, and systematic excavation began there in 1738. Work on Pompeii commenced much later, in 1748.

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Stonehenge -

One of the first sites to undergo archaeological excavation was Stonehenge, in the early 17th century. Pioneering British architect John Aubrey was responsible for the methodical inspection of the ancient stone circle. The monument is seen here in the late 19th century.

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Discovery of the Rosetta Stone -

Not all the greatest finds in archaeology are attributed to professional archaeologists. In July 1799, French officer Pierre-François Bouchard, serving in the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt, stumbled across what became known as the Rosetta Stone, a stele inscribed with a decree issued in 196 BCE. The top and middle texts are in ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts (a script derived from hieratic) respectively, while the bottom is in ancient Greek. This ensemble helped scholars finally crack the code of hieroglyphics.

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The Great Pyramid -

British Egyptologist William Flinders Petrie (1853–1942) is another worthy claimant of the epithet "father of archaeology." He was the first to scientifically investigate the Great Pyramid in Egypt during the 1880s.

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Merneptah Stele -

Flinders Petrie also unearthed the remarkable Merneptah Stele in 1896 at Thebes. It is sometimes referred to as the "Israel Stele" because a majority of scholars translate a set of hieroglyphs in line 27 as "Israel"—the earliest textual reference to Israel and the only reference from ancient Egypt.

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Discovery of Troy -

Another pioneer in the field of archaeology was the German Heinrich Schliemann. In fact an amateur archaeologist, Schliemann is celebrated for discovering and excavating Hisarlik, today in modern-day Turkey, in 1870. This is the location of Troy, best known as the setting for the Greek myth of the Trojan War.

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Discovery of Machu Picchu -

An astonishing discovery made in the early 20th century was that of Machu Picchu. American academic, explorer, and politician Hiram Bingham made public the existence of the Inca citadel in 1911. He returned to Machu Picchu in 1912 with a team to begin excavation of the site.

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Discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb -

Arguably the most spectacular find in the history of archaeology is the discovery by Howard Carter and his benefactor Lord Carnarvon of Tutankhamen's tomb, in 1922.

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Finding the missing link -

It was British palaeoanthropologist Mary Leakey who discovered the first fossilized Proconsul skull, an extinct ape that is now believed to be ancestral to humans. She often worked with her husband, Louis Leakey.

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The Sutton Hoo sensation -

Self-taught British archaeologist Basil Brown stunned his peers in 1939 by discovering and excavating a 6th-century Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. The once-in-a-lifetime find is still described as one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time.

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Locating RMS Titanic -

On September 1, 1985, the wreck of RMS Titanic was discovered lying on the seabed 3,800 m (12,500 ft) below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Her remains were found by a team headed by underwater archaeologist Robert Ballard. The following years saw over 5,000 artifacts recovered from the site, including a piece of the hull, the deck bell, vials of perfume, a woman's alligator purse, and, poignantly, the violin that was played as the ship sunk.

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Digging up controversy -

Archaeology has been embroiled in its fair share of controversy, too. From 1801 to 1812, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin supervised the removal of a collection of ancient Greek sculptures from the Pantheon. The majority of these ended up in the British Museum. The Greek authorities have repeatedly called for the so-called Elgin Marbles to be returned to Athens. The British government has so far resisted all attempts to have the marbles repatriated.

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Nazca Lines -

Nazca Lines, geoglyphs made in the soil of the Nazca Desert in southern Peru, have long baffled archaeologists. Swiss author Erich von Däniken suggests in his book 'Chariots of the Gods?' that the depressions and incisions are the work of extraterrestrials. He also believes that structures such as the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge, and the Moai of Easter Island were crafted by the hands of beings from beyond our world.

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Kennewick Man -

The skeletal remains of a prehistoric Paleoamerican man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, on July 28, 1996, sparked controversy when the Umatilla people and other tribes demanded that the remains be returned for reburial under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The so-called Kennewick Man (seen here as a reconstruction) is around 8,690 years old, making him among the oldest and most complete skeletons found in North America.

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Forensic archaeology -

One very unsavory field of the profession is forensic archaeology. Forensic archaeologists sometimes work with geneticists to support or question DNA evidence. Much of their work involves excavating the remains of victims of murder or genocide in areas of conflict. In this image, a human skull, still bearing a blindfold, has been unearthed by a team of forensic experts in a shallow grave in a remote desert south of Baghdad, Iraq, in 2006.

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Recovery process -

A forensic archaeologist begins sifting through the ashes of the fire-damaged Mackintosh Library at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland in 2014. Experts were assigned to the building in the hopes of recovering items that could be restored and help with the library's reconstruction.

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Archaeology today -

The discovery in 2015 of a fossilized jawbone said to be 3.5 million years led scientists to claim they'd unearthed proof of one of the very first humans to walk the Earth. It was found in Ethiopia.

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Newly-uncovered ancient tomb -

Archaeology continues to unearth wonders and surprises. This September 9, 2017 photograph shows Egyptian archaeologists unearthing mummies at a newly-uncovered ancient tomb for a goldsmith dedicated to the ancient Egyptian god Amun, in the Draa Abul Naga necropolis on the west bank of the ancient city of Luxor.

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The "Golden City" -

In 2022, what's claimed to be the second most important find in archaeological history was announced in the wake of the discovery of the lost "Golden City" near Luxor, said to be the home of Amenhotep III and his Queen Tiye. A team led by world-renowned Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass are currently excavating what is believed to be the largest ancient city ever uncovered in Egypt.

Sources: (Society for American Archaeology) (The Guardian) (National Geographic) (Britannica) (BBC) (History of Yesterday) 

See also: Modern cities built on ancient ruins

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