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[[File:Epse-Noord paalkuilen.jpg|thumb|250px|Marked pole holes of an ancient farm at archaeological site near Deventer, the Netherlands]]
'''Archaeology''' or '''archeology''' (from {{Greek Name|ἀρχαιολογία|archaiologia}}, – {{Greek Name|ἀρχαῖος|arkhaios}}, meaning "ancient"; and {{Greek Name|-λογία|logia}} meaning "study of, discourse"), is the study of [[human]] activity in the past. In other words, archaeology is the study of antiquity.<ref name=tenney>{{cite book |last=|first=|editor=Douglas, J.D.; Tenney, Merril C|title=The New International Dictionary of the Bible|publisher=Zondervan Publishing House|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|year=1987|page=75|isbn=0-310-33190-0}}</ref> Another definition found is that archaeology is the study of the material remains of past cultures within their excavated contexts.<ref name=Bard /> Archaeology is therefore concerned with the full range of past human experience. It deals with issues like how humans organized themselves into social groups, how they exploited their surroundings, the kind of food they ate, their beliefs, etc...  

==Methods==
Archaeology as a science, has a system where one archaeological investigation usually involves distinct items:

===Field survey===
A field survey is the location of promising sites, based on historical and geological studies, aerial surveys and  satellite images attempting to systematically locate previously unknown sites in a given region.

===Organizing expeditions===
Expeditions are organized with persons qualified in leadership, support staff (cooks, drivers), preparation of positions to the fields, logistics, photographic equipment, transport vehicles, warehouses, etc...

===Delimiting the area===
At this stage archaeologists delimit the area to be examined and established camp. The area to be examined is divided.

===Excavation and mapping===
Excavation is the most expensive phase of archaeological research, in relative terms. Excavations begin with picks, hoes, saws, electric drills, material collected, classification and storage of items discovered. Materials are selected for further analysis in the laboratory and tests by technicians of different specialties. The excavation continues in layers (stratification) that often pass from one civilization to another. Features excavated at the site are normally excavated in portions to produce a visible archaeological section for recording. The position at which the artifacts are discovered is also important. This allows the archaeologist to deduce which artifacts and resources were used in conjunction. Thus the excavated areas are carefully mapped. At the end of the project excavations are again filled with earth and covered with vegetation appropriate to the site.

===Careful handling of artifacts===
All material collected in the excavations is examined by the methods possible, if necessary. Everything is recorded in the history of the excavation, including pictures. The materials are selected and classified.

===Laboratory analysis===
The artifacts that require most attention are sent to the laboratory. Chemical analyzes are made or other types of analyses. If necessary, experts from other areas such as biologists, anthropologists and historians are summoned.

===Documentation===
Finally, reports are prepared and articles and books are written. These reports usually include all the details recorded including diagrams and photographs. The reports are highly technical, aimed at experts of the field. Books may have a more popular language in order to disseminate the findings.

==History and Development==
[[File:Rosetta Stone.JPG|thumb|200px|The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum.]]
Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli or Cyriacus of Ancona ([[Born::July 31, 1391]] — [[Died::1453]]/55) was a Italian humanist who travelled all around the Eastern Mediterranean, noting down his archaeological discoveries in his book ''Commentaria'', that eventually expanded in a work of six volumes. After translating the inscription of the triumphal arch of Trajan, Ciriaco decided to devoted the rest of his life to promoting the study of the past.<ref name=Thomas>{{cite book|author=Thomas, David Hurst|title=Archaeology|edition=3rd|publisher=Wadsworth/Thomsom Learning|location=South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia|page=2-28|year=1998|isbn=0-15-501369-6}}</ref> He has been called the father of archaeology. Modern archaeology may be said to began in 1798 when the rich antiquities of the Nile valley were open to scientific study by the expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte.<ref name=unger>{{cite book|last=Unger|first=Merrill F|editor=Harrison, R. K.|title=The New Unger´s Bible Dictionary|publisher=Moody Press|location=Chicago|year=1988|page=93-94|isbn=0-8024-9037-9}}</ref> On this expedition it was the discovered the Rosetta stone by one of his soldiers.<ref name=Bard>{{cite book|author=Bard, Kathryn A|title=An Introduction to Archaeology of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|location=Malden, MA|page=5|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4051-1149-2}}</ref> The Frenchman Jean-François Champollion ([[Born::1790]]-[[Died::1832]]) used its bilingual inscription to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822 after working for 14 years.<ref>{{cite book|author=Renfrew, Colin; Bahn, Paul G|title=Archaeology: Theories Methods and Practice|publisher=Thames & Hudson|year=2000|edition=3rd|isbn=0-500-28147-5}}</ref> Around 1836, Jaches Boucher de Perthes began to collect axeheads and bones of mammals long extinct near the Somme river and concluded, by examining the tools, of the existence of very ancient men.<ref name=Thomas />

==Biblical archaeology==
{{Main|Biblical archaeology}}

Biblical archaeology is a more restricted field than general archaeology and deals with ancient records related upon the Bible and its message.<ref name=unger /> The scientific methodology of Biblical archaeology is the same of the general archaeology. There is no special science or technique available to the biblical scholar.<ref name=tenney /> The study of Biblical Archaeology is an important aid to the correct understanding of the Bible, since it gives a description of the lands of the Bible and of social customs, civil and religious, of the biblical characters.<ref>{{cite book|author=Berkhof, Louis|title=Biblical Archaeology|publisher=Smitter Book Company|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|edition=3rd, revised|year=1928|page=17}}</ref>

==Archaeologists==
Archaeologists study human cultures of the past, including the remains of the artifacts, buildings and monuments that people have made, the environments in which they lived, their tools, their ceremonial objects and the remains of the people themselves.

* [[Clifford Wilson]]
* [[John Leslie]]
* [[William F. Albright]]
* [[William M. Ramsay]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.archaeology.org/ Archaeology Magazine]

{{archaeology navbox}}
[[category:Archaeology]]

[[pt:Arqueologia]]

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