Concept in Definition ABC

Main access to knowledge of prehistoric communities

We know everything we know today about prehistoric and ancient societies and communities thanks to the intense work carried out by archeology, discipline This scientific study precisely addresses this object of study and uses the remains of the aforementioned communities as the main evidence.

A complex activity that works on-site to collect evidence

Undoubtedly, what archeology undertakes is a very important activity due to the result that in The effect leaves us, which is to know more and more about our past, to explain the present in certain aspects and the evolution. It is also a complex task because it involves a lot of investigation in situ, in those places and lands where it is known that certain civilizations settled that left an indelible mark on our history.

For this reason, when from this discipline new evidences and tests are arrived at, normally materialized in objects and works produced by ancient peoples, it is that from the press there is a tremendous dissemination and celebration because this will surely allow us to know more relevant data about our ancestors, their culture, their uses and

traditions And as we have already said, it is also a way of getting to know ourselves better, because many of these forms of life have been transferred through the generations ...

He focuses his study on the arts and monuments located during antiquity

So, Archeology is a science that deals with and focuses on the study of everything that refers to the arts and monuments located during antiquity..

Approaches the human study from the material and psychological

Roughly, archeology will carry out its study of analyze to societies through their material remains, whether they were intentional or not. Many tend to conceive it together with History and not without it, however, archeology is a science autonomous social science and not an auxiliary science of history that complements it with documents materials. Also, archeology, deepens their knowledge of human beings through the material and psychological culture that they left behind.

Archaeological methodology is focusing on more recent stages of history

Although the focus of attention and research in archeology has been fundamentally placed on Prehistory and Antiquity, in recent times, the methodology Archeology has focused on more recent stages such as the Middle Ages, through the well-known Medieval Archeology, the Modern Age and even the Industrial period. And furthermore, today many archaeologists find themselves occasionally engaged in the study of super current materials, such as urban waste and that have given rise or origin to Archeology Industrial.

Phases of the archaeological study

The archaeological study is divided into three phases or stages. The first is the prospecting, which is in which the exploration of the territory in search of material indications that show the existence of a deposit. At this stage, the settlement model or the period in time to which the findings correspond, if any, can be determined. The first thing that will be done is to delimit the territory, which may be arbitrary or geographical limits.

The next step is to excavation, which will certainly facilitate the collection of evidence to affirm this or that question inherent to the people in question. The excavation can be an emergency excavation (conditioned by the transformation of the space and is linked to the building of buildings or infrastructures, requires documenting the remains because the site will be destroyed), research (they are carried out to discover new data and bridging some gaps in history) or heritage (strategic development of cultural activities and contribution of interest to certain attractions of the territory).

And finally the stage of laboratory work, in which the remains obtained will be exhaustively analyzed, through different tools and instruments, carrying out in the cases that warrant it. laboratory processing tasks, always with extreme care not to damage the elements or parts found, because if this happens they would be losing the existing evidence and of course all the previous work would be lost, which is certainly complex and arduous since, as we saw, it implies a great mobilization of resources all types.

The cave paintings, an archaeological evidence par excellence

The cave paintings are one of the oldest human artistic manifestations, since some date back 40 thousand years, and without a doubt they have been one of the great evidences with which found archeology in his work and that allowed him not only to reconstruct the human form of life in the past but also to discover that art is present in man from the minute almost zero. They are found arranged in rocks and caves and of course archeology arrived there in its search for discovery.

The professionals who are dedicated to this activity are called archaeologists.

Topics in Archeology