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Archaeology is the study of ancient buildings, tools, and other objects as a way of learning about the past. Archaeologists work like detectives, and treat the things they find as clues to the lives of the people who made and used them. Archaeologists may make exciting new discoveries, such as an Egyptian tomb filled with gold. But a few grains of hardened corn from a buried cave in New Mexico may reveal even more about early man.

Before scientists learn to estimate how long mankind has existed, archaeologists tried mainly to fill in gaps in the history of civilizations. Since the late 1800s, however, archaeologists have worked more to learn about prehistoric peoples. These peoples had no writing. But, through thousands of years, they laid the foundations of present-day civilization.

One way to understand the archaeologists’ task is to imagine what would happen to our houses and the things we use if they were abandoned for any length of time. Objects of wood and cloth would crumble, and houses would gradually fall apart. More durable belongings, such as knife blades or bicycle frames, would lie scattered among the ruins. Any archaeologist of the future who wanted to know about our life would have to do three things: find where our houses stood and salvage whatever he could, figure out the age of these remains, and reconstruct our way of life from what he found.

The archaeologist must go through the same basic steps in trying o learn about people, whether they lived thousands of years ago or in more recent times. In both cases, he needs the help of many kinds of scientists. Geologists tell him about the earth at different periods. Botanists trace ancient plant life. Zoologists identify animals. Petrologists and mineralogists supply information about stones and minerals used for implements and weapons. Chemists and physicists help discover what things were made of and contribute new methods of dating and preserving archaeological finds, or discoveries.

Archaeology is usually considered a branch of anthropology, and other branches of this science also help the archaeologist. Physical anthropologists identify the races of early men from parts of their skeletons. Cultural, or social, anthropologists help figure out the religious beliefs, social organization, and other customs of prehistoric people.