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Why Does Archaeology Study

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Archaeologists study material remnants left by past humans to learn about their culture and practices. There are different practices that archaeologists can exercise, such as the reconstruction of material remains. This is done by reconstructing broken objects such as pots or houses. By doing this the scientists can now reconstructing their life-ways, by studying artifacts found they are able to deduce what life was like for these people. There is also processual archaeologist, which practice archaeology as an empirical science so that all forms of cultural variation can be tested. Archaeology focuses on the archaeological record while paleoanthroplogy focuses on the hominin fossil record. Both of these study the human past to see what our ancestors were like and how they lived. While some archaeologists focus on biological human development, others focus on how cultures evolve and how societies form. Archaeologists can see change in activity present vertically throughout an excavation. With each layer, of artifacts and features, they are looking at a different time in the history of those people. Artifacts are portable human made …show more content…

Excavating destroys the site, this is why deciding to excavate a site can be difficult. Some sites remain untouched in hopes of having better technology to excavate them in the future. When excavating everything is recorded about the site and the surrounding environment. The surrounding environment is important in determining if any disturbance to the site might have occurred, from humans or the natural environment. Archaeologists have to take in account the natural environment when studying a site to be as accurate as possible. One good example of how nature can disrupt a site to give a false representation is rainfall and flooding carried bones and tools into new areas. Their new area could be mistaken as their originating point if natural forces are not taken into

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