Archaeology Overview

Arhcaeology concerns itself with man in the past. It studies the ways they lived, worked, and what beliefs they had. Archaeology has often been referred to as the anthropology of extinct peoples. The science of archaeology procedes through Research and Interpretation and the Cultural Resource Management as a main focus.

There are three main types of archaeology:

Land,
Underwater and
Survey - this type of archaeology includes locating sites, plotting and recording them and ensuring there is no future damage done to these archaeological sites.

Within these three types, there are two main resources:

In Situe - the archaeological site in its natural place which has two key functions; to inventory resources and to produce conservation facilities for those resources, and
On the Shelf - the collection and all the records that have been collected about the in situe

Proper maintenance of historic objects, archaeological specimens and reproductions in the archaeological collections is crucial to the preservation of these artifacts. The areas where these specimens are kept must be environmentally controlled to ensure proper conservation. The temperature and the humidity must be at the set standards for each particular collection with a variation no larger than + 2 degrees and + 2%.

The collection of the specimens, and records (i.e. notes, maps and photographs) from a solitary investigation are all part of a single body of evidence. Although one can determine the history directly from the artifact, it is from its surroundings that the knowledge of its use is attained.

The value of artifacts and archaeological specimens of an historic collection is not based upon the monetary value that most people would believe it to be. It is based on the archaeological value. This depends upon the assemblage of the collected information about the artifact. Although some objects, such as coins, may have a certain monetary value, they are collected and recorded because of the information they provide and the history they represent. Even artifacts that may be regarded as worthless by most people, such as scraps of rusty metal, broken glass and ceramics, and the soil and rocks in which they were found, are recorded because they provide a substantial amount of archaeological value. This value is obtained from all the collected research combined, which is then compounded into one piece of research that gives its value. An artifact's value decreases with the loss of each single piece of documentation that is unable to be returned to its collection. Excavation is Destruction

Excavation, which is the most commonly used method of gathering historical scientific data, is also one of the most destructive ways to collect this data. It is for this reason that detailed recording of sites and first location of the objects is essential. Once a site has been excavated it can never be excavated again. All that remains of these sites are the specimens and the data that has been collected and recorded. This is one of the most important lessons that an archaeologist will learn in his or her career.