What are the branches of archaeology?
Question:
What are the branches of archaeology?
Archaeology:
Archaeology is the study of human history and cultures. Archaeologists are often required to dig and excavate sites to learn more about ancient artifacts and remains.
Digging up the Past
- Archaeologists use past structures, tools, and other remains of human civilization to learn more about past cultures.
- Digs are carefully carried out to ensure that the products being dug up are not damaged in the process, and the locations of each artifact are carefully recorded.
- By learning about past civilizations we can potentially discover what happened to them and use the information gained to inform our decisions in the present.
Answer and Explanation: 1
The branches of archaeology are prehistoric archaeology and historic archaeology.
Prehistoric archaeology is the study of cultures that do not have writing. Since this branch focuses on pre-urban humans without written records, the majority of their data is in the form of artifacts and physical remains.
Protohistoric archaeology, a subdiscipline of historic archaeology, is the study of cultures with incomplete records. This focuses on the time when a culture has no developed writing or written remains, yet this culture is mentioned in the writings of other cultures.
Historic archaeology is the study of cultures with well-developed historical records. This branch of archaeology examines written and oral records to put material into the context of their culture. These written or oral records can confirm or conflict with other archaeological evidence from that culture.
Learn more about this topic:
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Chapter 8 / Lesson 9What is archaeology? Learn the definition of archaeology, define an archaeologist, how archaeology is part of anthropology, and the focus and range of archaeology.