Archaeology, or archeology, is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. In North America, archaeology is considered a sub-field of anthropology, while in Europe archaeology is often viewed as either a discipline in its own right or a sub-field of other disciplines.
Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi, eastern Africa, 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology as a field is distinct from the discipline of paleontology, the study of fossil remains. Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for whom there may be no written records to study. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the advent of literacy in societies across the world. Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time.
Archaeology magazine is a bimonthly mainstream publication for the general public, supported by its website archaeology.org.
The magazine is published by the Archaeological Institute of America. The institute also publishes the professional American Journal of Archaeology. The editor-in-chief was Peter Young until 2011 when he was replaced by Claudia Valentino in the post.
Archaeology is the study of ancient cultures through examination of the artifacts they left behind. It may also refer to: