Value of Archaeology

Archaeology always seems to conjure up images of the exotic. When we tune in to the History Channel or National Geographic specials, we are swept away to Egypt or China or perhaps Mesa Verde. Images of pyramids, cliff dwellings, and spectacular artifacts of gold or turquoise come to mind. While all of those amazing places and fabulous objects are familiar to most of us, they're so compelling that they sometimes mask a more important and poorly understood fact: every place has a past, and every past is important. That's especially true here in Pennsylvania.

The area that is now the Commonwealth was settled by Native American people more than 16,000 years ago, during the end of the Ice Ages. In fact, one of the oldest radiocarbon dated sites in North America, the Meadowcroft Rockshelter, is located in southwestern Pennsylvania. The descendants of those first people lived in literally every corner of Pennsylvania, and left behind a rich and important record of their history and cultures. Thousands of Native American archaeological sites of every kind, from small temporary campsites to villages of thousands of people, dot the Commonwealth's landscape. That's also true of sites created since the first colonists arrived here in the seventeenth century. From Independence Mall to Fort Necessity to Gettysburg to thousands of lesser known places, important evidence from many critical moments in America's history are buried beneath Pennsylvania's landscape. From time to time, evidence of this underground legacy turns up as arrowheads or fragments of pottery in plowed fields, an old foundation along a roadside, or dark stains visible in a stream-side cut bank.

What is Archaeology?

Archaeology is the study of past human behavior through the systematic recovery and analysis of material remains or objects. These objects, called artifacts, can be as small as a button or as large as a building. Either large or small, they are the evidence of past cultures. These artifacts are proof of those before us and serve as a physical connection to our past.

Archaeology is divided into prehistoric and historical archaeology. Prehistoric archaeology is the study of cultures that did not have a written language. Although prehistoric peoples did not write about their culture, they left remains such as tools, pottery, ceremonial objects, and dietary refuse. Historical archaeology studies the remains of cultures for which a written history exists. Historical archaeology examines records from the past that include diaries; court, census, and tax records; deeds; maps; and photographs. Through combining the use of documentation and archaeological evidence, archaeologists gain a better understanding of the past and human behavior.