Archaeology is the arm of anthropology that involves studying the prehistoric and contemporary past of human beings using material or factual remains. It is an interesting entry to the past. Archaeology analyzes material remains dating back to millions of years all the way to the modern 20th century world in order to get an in depth understanding of the culture of human beings. Such materials include bio facts, artifacts and landscapes. Generally, archaeology aims at determining the sequence of events in human development, exhuming the cultural antiquity of different human settlements, understanding processes that trigger changes in societies across different cultures and providing proof to fill history gaps with factual evidence.
Significance of Archeology
Archeology has an interesting ability to stretch back to distant times of human existence and bring the unknown from those dark times. It deals with real factual residues that allows it to assert authority that other human disciplines cannot. This means that archeological efforts are capable of shedding light to current day’s matters with identity and control. Discovery of treasured materials such as bones, artifacts and fossils helps focus issues of land rights for minority and indigenous groups for purposes of custody or recompense. It has the ability to reveal change over a long period of time and identify wider generalities on why certain groups or cultures perished.
Archeological Setting
Archeological setting is basically the relationship between objects found on an archeological site and the situation on the site. Each artifact on an archeological site has an exact location. Usually, that location is recorded prior to moving the artifact. Removing an artifact without taking note of its exact location leads to loss of the context forever and nullifies the scientific value of the artifact. The setting is what enables archaeologists to determine the relationship between objects found on the same location and how various archaeological sites are linked to each other.
