Archaeology is a wide subject and definitions can vary, but broadly, it is the study of the culture and history of past peoples and their societies by uncovering and studying their material remains, i.e. tools, ruins, and pottery. Archaeology and history are different subjects but have things in common and constantly work with each other. While historians study books, tablets, and other written information to learn about the past, archaeologists uncover, date, and trace the source of such items, and in their turn focus on learning through material culture.
More about: ArchaeologyDefinition
Timeline
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c. 1780First scientific archaeological excavations attributed to US President Thomas Jefferson.
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15 Jul 1799The Rosetta Stone is found near Rashid (Rosetta) Egypt by French Lieutenant Pierre-Francois Bouchard, an engineer in the army of Napoleon Bonaparte during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. The stone, inscribed in Hieroglyphic, Demotic, and Greek, allowed for the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics and opened up the history of ancient Egypt to the modern age.
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1819C. J. Thomsen of the Danish National Museum first uses the Three-Age System of Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age to organise its collection.
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1822Champollion announces decipherment of hieroglyphic writing.
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27 Sep 1822Jean-Francois Champollion publishes his work on deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics in a letter to the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, opening up the history of ancient Egypt to the modern world.
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1828First excavations begun at Clava Cairns.
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1828 - c. 1990Ongoing excavations at Clava Cairns.
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c. 1850 - 1913Excavations are ongoing at the Skara Brae site.
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c. 1860Frank Calvert, then Heinrich Schliemann beginning in 1871 CE, excavate at the site of ancient Troy.
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16 Oct 1869The Cardiff Giant is discovered by workers digging a well on the property of William C. Newell of Cardiff, New York, purported to be a large, petrified man of ancient origin but actually the creation of one George Hull who wanted to show how easily people could be fooled into believing anything. The Cardiff Giant is among the most famous archaeological hoaxes in history.
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1876Heinrich Schliemann begins excavating at Mycenae.
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18 Dec 1888Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law, Charlie Mason, first see the so-called Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling of the ancestral Puebloans in the United States and initiated the use of the term *Anasazi* for the people who built the structure and lived in the region of present-day Mesa Verde, Colorado, USA.
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1900 - 1905Sir Arthur Evans excavates at Crete, discovering the palace at Knossos and naming the civilization "Minoan".
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1902 - 1914The Ishtar Gate excavation is underway and lead by Robert Koldewey.
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17 May 1902The Antikythera Mechanism is discovered by Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais in a workroom of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. The device was found in a shipwreck in 1900 and objects recovered but the mechanism was only a lump of corroded metal until Stais noticed it had a gear wheel.
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6 Dec 1912The famous Nefertiti Bust is discovered at Amarna, Egypt by a German team led by archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt in the ruins of the ancient workshop of the sculptor Thutmose. The bust, dated to circa 1345 BCE, depicts Queen Nefertiti, Great Royal Wife of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and is presently on exhibit at the Museum of Berlin, Germany.
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18 Dec 1912The Piltdown Man discovery is announced at a meeting of the Geological Society of London by amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson, claiming his find was an evolutionary "missing link." Although Dawson's claims were rejected as early as 1913, the authenticity of the Piltdown Man was generally accepted until 1953 when it was revealed as a hoax.
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1913Skara Brae site is plundered by unknown parties.
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1920English archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley excavates at Ur (in modern-day Iraq).
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1922English archaeologist Howard Carter discovers the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
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4 Nov 1922British archaeologist Howard Carter discovers Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt, when the first steps are uncovered. It was the most intact royal tomb ever discovered in Egypt and ignited a world-wide interest in ancient Egyptian civilization.
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3 Jan 1924Archaeologist Howard Carter uncovers the sarcophagus of the pharaoh Tutankhamun. Although the tomb was discovered in November 1922, excavation proceeded slowly, and the famous sarcophagus was not found until January 1924.
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1927Professional excavation and preservation efforts begin at Skara Brae under V. G. Childe and J.W. Paterson.
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1930The reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate is completed at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany.
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12 Sep 1940The Cave of Lascaux is discovered near Montignac, Southwestern France, when four teenagers find it while searching for their lost dog, Robot. The cave features 1,500 engravings and 600 paintings dated to between 17,000 and 22,000 years ago.
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c. 1960Beginnings of processual archaeology, a scientific approach to questions and designing of models to suggest answers and test theories, in the US.
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c. 1970The Sweet Track found during peat excavations, Somerset, Britain.
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29 Mar 1974The Terracotta Army of the first Chinese emperor Shi Huangdi is discovered by farmers digging a well near Xi'an in the Shaanxi province, Lintong District, China. The discovery of the immense army created to serve the emperor in the afterlife is regarded as one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.
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Aug 1984Lindow Man discovered at Lindow Moss, a peat bog in Cheshire, England.
