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Archaeology,
archeology, or archæology (from Greek: a??a???,
archaios, combining the Latin "archae" meaning "ancient"; and
the Greek "?????" ("logos") meaning "knowledge". It is the
science that studies human cultures through the recovery,
documentation, analysis and interpretation of material remains
and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts,
features, human and animal remain, biofacts, and landscapes.
Because archaeology's aim is to understand humankind, it is a
humanistic endeavor. The goals of archaeology vary, and there is debate as
to what its aims, and responsibilities are. Some goals include
the documentation and explanation of the origins and development
of human cultures, understanding culture history, chronicling
cultural evolution, and studying past human behavior and
ecology, for both prehistoric and historic societies.
Archaeologists are also concerned with the study of methods used
in the discipline, and the theoretical and philosophical
underpinnings underlying the questions archaeologists ask of the
past.
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The tasks of
surveying areas in order to find new sites, excavating sites in
order to recover cultural remains, classification, analysis, and
preservation are all important phases of the archaeological
process. These are all important sources of information.
Archaeology also plays a pivotal role in the preservation of the
past, both for future study, as well as retaining the past for
future generations yet to come. Given the broad scope of the discipline there
is a great deal of cross-disciplinary research in archaeology.
Archaeology incorporates history, art history, classics,
anthropology, ethnology, mythography & mythology, geography,
cartography, astronomy, geology, paleontology, botany,
architecture & structural engineering, civil engineering,
linguistics, psychology, forensic medicine, anatomy, zoology and
paleozoology, materials science, chemistry, paleoethnobotany,
and
paleobotany.
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