Archaeology
Archaeology is the study of past human cultures. Like cultural anthropologists, archaeologists are interested in all aspects of culture. Unlike cultural anthropologists, however, archaeologist do not always have the benefit of living peoples who can teach them about their cultures. For this reason, archaeologists must rely on preserved material culture, since artifacts and other forms of material remains are sometimes all that is left of past cultures.
Through systematic methods of excavation and analysis of material culture, archaeologists can determine how a society utilized resources in the physical environment to obtain food, tools, clothing, and shelter. Often archaeologists can also reconstruct the economy, social organization, political structure, and religious beliefs of the society in question.
Whereas cultural and linguistic anthropology offer the discipline comparative breadth among contemporary and historic peoples, archaeology provides a comparative view by documenting the grand scale of human existence from the emergence of stone tools through the origins of agriculture through the rise and fall of cities and states to historical periods.
Archaeology Field School
