Archaeology – The Science of History

Roughly one hundred billion people have lived and died over the course of human history. For most of them, nothing remains. A few detectives travel the world, sifting through layers of soil and buried ruins. They search for rare artifacts that, by chance, have survived for thousands of years.

Piecing Together the Past

These detectives are archaeologists, scientists who study the distant past. Prehistory is particularly challenging for archaeologists because there are no written records. Instead, they search through pottery shards, bone fragments, and anything else that has survived to piece together the story of us.

Hidden Cities

Many of the best clues to our past have been found beneath the surface of the earth, where wind, rain, heat, and decay are less likely to destroy them. Many buildings in early cities were made of mud bricks. When these buildings collapse, the walls become part of an artificial hill called a tell. Tells are common throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Archaeologists can often dig through these layers, each one representing a different period of time.

Pottery

Pottery is particularly useful. Its shapes and designs can reveal important details about a culture. Although pottery often breaks over time, archaeologists can sometimes reconstruct it from the remaining shards.

Frozen in Time

Natural disasters often preserve the past and provide insight into how people once lived. The Roman city of Pompeii was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Today, visitors can walk through the city and see what it was like nearly two thousand years ago.

Turning to Stone

Occasionally, archaeologists will discover a fossil that has survived because it has petrified, or turned to stone. Petrification occurs when mineral-rich groundwater seeps into the porous parts of bones, shells, or wood. The minerals eventually crystallize and settle, filling the pores. The shape is preserved well enough to study, though it is not an exact replica of the original bone.

Digging with a Toothbrush

Archaeological expeditions are often called “digs,” but in sensitive areas, shovels are rarely involved. Because what they are looking for may be broken or very small, they use specialized equipment to carefully sift through the earth. A common expression is that a great archaeologist digs with a toothbrush.

Conversely, many early archaeological digs damaged or destroyed the artifacts they studied. Early explorers at Mayan ruins such as Chichén Itzá used blasting and rough excavation methods to reach interior chambers. Parts of Chichén Itzá were later reconstructed after this damage.

The story of prehistory is built piece by piece, from pottery shards to ancient bones. Archaeological discoveries give voice to people who could not write their own history. The past may not be lost. Perhaps it is just buried, waiting to be uncovered.