What is archaeology?

Archaeology is the study of the human past – but it’s so much more than history! And it isn’t just digging and finding things underground either. Archaeology uses a huge range of evidence to help us tell stories about past peoples and find out about their everyday lives.

Humankind is almost 4 million years old, but written records have only been made by people for about the last 5,000 years. Archaeology helps to fill in the huge gaps in human history before writing, and it can add more detail to the historical record even after writing was invented.

Archaeologists also have lots of different jobs within the profession and many more people, like curators in museums and historians, work alongside them to bring the past to life.

Archaeology is all about questions

Where did people live in the past? What did they wear? What did they eat? How did they die? What were their beliefs? What tools did they use, and how? And many, many more.

The evidence that archaeologists use to answer these questions is often found during excavations, or digs. The evidence can include objects like pottery, jewellery, building materials, coins, weapons and tools. Soil samples from archaeological sites can reveal information about past environments, like what kinds of plants were growing. Features like ditches, pits, post holes and the remains of walls can help archaeologists piece together what buildings looked like and what they were made of. The ways that people were buried tells us about past beliefs, and the skeletons themselves reveal information about people’s health in the past and the types of diseases and injuries that killed them. Scientific experiments on teeth can even show where people came from!

So archaeology is about answering questions; but it is important to remember that the answers are not always obvious, and in many cases there can be several different answers (or interpretations) using the same evidence. Archaeologists are a bit like detectives. They use the evidence to try to work out the most likely answers and then try to explain why they think their answers are right.

You can delve deeper into archaeology by exploring our website…

If that’s not enough, why not head out and explore the archaeology of your local area?

Places to go

Find some brilliant archaeology to explore near you!

Use our searchable map to discover archaeology and heritage sites to visit near you. From historic buildings to archaeological sites, we’ve got you covered.

Across the UK there are thousands of places to visit that link us to the people who inhabited these islands hundreds and sometimes thousands of year’s ago.

Some of these you might already know about like your local castle or cathedral. However, some archaeological sites can be hidden away or difficult to find unless you know what you are looking for. Our searchable map and ‘Explore archaeology’ section will help you find and identify sites near you.

Places to go