An Introduction to Archaeology

Start unearthing the past with these archaeology resources for beginners. Learn what archaeology is, how it works, and how the resulting research helps tell a coherent story about our world.

  • Obsidian Outcrop at the San Andreas Fault, California
    Obsidian Hydration - An Inexpensive, but Problematic Dating Technique
  • What Is History? Definitions and quotes
    What Is History?
  • A Rooftop Garden Affect in NYC.
    Cultural Ecology
  • The Pyramids at Giza, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cairo, Egypt, North Africa, Africa
    Pyramids: Enormous Ancient Symbols of Power
  • Ethiopia, Rift Valley, aerial view
    Rift Valley - The Crack in the Planet's Crust in Eastern Africa
  • Friends by a campfire are an example of one important reason for the control of fire: human socialization.
    The Discovery of Fire
  • Close up of a Bitumen Seep called Pitch Lake in Trinidad
    The Archaeology and History of Bitumen
  • Stone Arrowheads, Prehistoric Ute Culture. James Bee Collection, Utah.
    Arrowheads and Other Points: Myths and Little Known Facts
  • A group of archaeologists training together
    Career Options for Archaeology Degrees
  • Stones in a pile
    Stone Boiling - The History of the Ancient Cooking Method
  • Pineapple Plantation
    Adaptations to Climate Change in C3, C4, and CAM Plants
  • Vindolanda Tablet display
    The Vindolanda Tablets
  • Spondylus princeps, the Spiny Oyster
    Spondylus: The Pre-Columbian Use of the Thorny Oyster
  • Archaeological Search For The Civil War Grave Of Fererico Garcia Lorca
    How to Become an Archaeologist
  • Oregon Coast
    Pacific Coast Migration Model: Prehistoric Highway Into the Americas
  • Kansas wheat field
    A Beginner's Guide to the Neolithic Period
  • Flotation Device in Archaeology Laboratory
    Flotation Method in Archaeology
  • Oldest Acheulean Handaxe from Kokiselei, Kenya
    Top 10 Inventions in Ancient Human History
  • First successful Caesium Atomic Clock, 1955 (National Physical Laboratory)
    BP: How Do Archaeologists Count Backward Into the Past?
  • What Could This Khomani San Woman from the Kalahari Desert Tell Us About Ancient Hunter-Gatherers?
    Ethnoarchaeology: Blending Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology
  • archaeological crypt
    The Bible and Archaeology
  • Lustreware Bowl, 12th-13th c, Kashan Iran
    Lustreware - Medieval Islamic Pottery
  • Ruins of Delphi, Greece
    Defining Archaeology: 40 Different Ways to Describe Archaeology
  • Mudbrick Walls and a Shrine at Catalhoyuk Tell, Turkey
    What Is a Tell? the Remnants of Ancient Mesopotamian Cities
  • Settlement Stratigraphy at the Central Steppes Site of Tasbas, Kazakhstan
    Stratigraphy: Earth's Geological, Archaeological Layers
  • Tool Kit and Food of San Hunter-Gatherer in Etosha National Park
    Ostrich Egg Shells
  • Scene of cannibalism in Brazil in 1644 by Jan van Kessel
    Cannibalism: Archaeological and Anthropological Studies
  • The Trundholm Sun Chariot (Bronze Age,
    Three Age System - Categorizing European Prehistory
  • Aerial Photograph of Tipón Inca Terraces, Peru
    Landscape Archaeology
  • Gezer Calendar Reproduction, Gezer, Israel
    B.C. (or BC) - Counting and Numbering Pre-Roman History
  • Chicory Pollen Grains
    Palynology Is the Scientific Study of Pollen and Spores
  • Measuring the Diameter of a Tipi Ring, Shelby, Montana
    Uncovering the Archaeological Remains of Tipis
  • Replica Of Chauvet Cave Painting of a Pride of Lions
    Why Don't We Call Them 'Cro-Magnon' Anymore?
  • Museum display of homo sapiens, an ancient human.
    Did Humans First Evolve in Africa?
  • The Taj Mahal
    Characteristics of Ancient Monumental Architecture
  • Ochre - The Oldest Known Natural Pigment in the World
  • Products from flax on a wooden table.
    History of Textiles
  • Ulf Andersen Portraits - Anthropologist Marshall Sahlins
    Anthropology Defined
  • English King Henry V's Secret Chapel in Westminster Abbey
    Feudalism - A Political System of Medieval Europe and Elsewhere
  • Oldest Acheulean Handaxe from Kokiselei, Kenya
    Acheulean Handaxe: Definition and History
  • 19th Century Woodcut Print of Excavations at Pompeii
    The History of Archaeology: How Ancient Relic Hunting Became Science
  • Ohlone Village Pit house in construction
    What Is a Pit House? Winter Home for Our Ancient Ancestors
  • Woman making pottery in Kpeyi, Liberia
    Processual Archaeology
  • Floridians Bring Their Material Culture to Antiques Roadshow in 2001
    Material Culture - Artifacts and the Meaning(s) They Carry
  • thermoluminescence of fluorite specimens emitting light after being heated.
    Luminescence Dating
  • A tractor tearing down a house.
    Site Formation Processes in Archaeology
  • Authorities Investigate Journalists Over Possible Treason
    "Who Controls the Past Controls the Future" Quote Meaning
  • teacher in a classroom in front of a map
    How to Study Archaeology in High School
  • Forensic Anthropologist Assists with 2017 Wildfires in Santa Rosa, California
    A History of the Field of Forensic Anthropology
  • The Quipu's Knotted Complexity
    Quipu: South America's Ancient Writing System
  • Greenland Ice Core Samples in a Freezer
    What Does cal BP Mean?
  • Homo Erectus with Skull
    Multiregional Hypothesis: Human Evolutionary Theory
  • A pile of pottery in Neolithic Burial site.
    The Invention of Pottery
  • A large team of people working under a tent at an excavation site
    Is a Career in Archaeology Right for You?
  • Human Evolution
    A Beginner's Guide to the Paleolithic Period or Stone Age
  • Red Lady Tomb at Palenque
    Ancient Pigments - Our Colorful Past
  • University student studying in library
    Why Archaeology Topics Are Great Options for Research Papers
  • Close up of tagged shell midden at Elands Bay (South Africa).
    The Archaeological Study of Shell Middens
  • Close up of Shang Dynasty Oracle Bone
    Oracle Bones
  • American motor vehicle industry pioneer Henry Ford (1863 - 1947) standing next to the first and the ten millionth Model-T Ford.
    Did Henry Ford Really Say "History is Bunk"?
  • Microscopic image of Calcareous phytoplankton
    Marine Isotope Stages
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