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Purpose of archaeology
- 1. Dr.AGHALYA.,M.A.,M.Ed.,M.PHIL.,Ph.D., Head & Asst.Professor Department of History Bon Secours College for Women Thanjavur PURPOSE OF ARCHAEOLOGY
- 2. INTRODUCTION • The purpose of archaeology is to learn more about past societies and the development of the human race. • Over 99% of the development of humanity has occurred within prehistoric cultures, who did not make use of writing, thereby no written records exist for study purposes.
- 3. PURPOSE OF ARCHAEOLOGY Without such written sources, the only way to understand prehistoric societies is through archaeology. Because archaeology is the study of past human activity, it stretches back to about 2.5 million years ago when we find the first stone tools – The Oldowan Industry. Many important developments in human history occurred during prehistory, such as the evolution of humanity during the Paleolithic period, when the hominins developed from the australopithecines in Africa and eventually into modern Homo sapiens.
- 4. PURPOSE OF ARCHAEOLOGY Archaeology also sheds light on many of humanity's technological advances, for instance the ability to use fire, the development of stone tools, the discovery of metallurgy, the beginnings of religion and the creation of agriculture. Without archaeology, we would know little or nothing about the use of material culture by humanity that pre-dates writing.
- 5. PURPOSE OF ARCHAEOLOGY However, is not only prehistoric, pre-literate cultures that can be studied using archaeology but historic, literate cultures as well, through the sub-discipline of historical archaeology. For many literate cultures, such as Ancient it Greece and Mesopotamia, their surviving records are often incomplete and biased to some extent.
- 6. PURPOSE OF ARCHAEOLOGY In many societies, literacy was restricted to the elite classes, such as the clergy or the bureaucracy of court or temple. The literacy even of aristocrats has sometimes been restricted to deeds and contracts. The interests and world-view of elites are often quite different from the lives and interests of the populace.
- 7. PURPOSE OF ARCHAEOLOGY In many societies, literacy was restricted to the elite classes, such as the clergy or the bureaucracy of court or temple. The literacy even of aristocrats has sometimes been restricted to deeds and contracts. The interests and world-view of elites are often quite different from the lives and interests of the populace.
- 8. PURPOSE OF ARCHAEOLOGY Writings that were produced by people more representative of the general population were unlikely to find their way into libraries and be preserved there for posterity. Thus, written records tend to reflect the biases, assumptions, cultural values and possibly deceptions of a limited range of individuals, usually a small fraction of the larger population.
- 9. PURPOSE OF ARCHAEOLOGY • Hence, written records cannot be trusted as a sole source. The material record may be closer to a fair representation of society, though it is subject to its own biases, such as sampling bias and differential preservation.
- 10. THANK YOU JAI HIND