Is Archaeology an important job and what is Archaeology exactly? Scott (16)

Dear Scott,

Archaeology is the study of past civilisations, although it is not just about ancient cultures: you also have industrial archaeology for example, which is much more recent. Archaeology is different from history however as it mostly concentrates on material culture: archaeologists work to excavate sites and recover artefacts and information in order to understand the past better. Historians have a similar mission although they concentrate on the written record… which has its limits as writing was introduced by the Romans in the UK (although there were oghams, an early alphabet that may have been used prior to the Roman invasion). Archaeology, because it consists of excavating sites, can go much further back and the oldest site to be discovered in the UK is Happisburgh in Norfolk where flint tools and human footprints were revealed, dating back to roughly 900,000 years ago!

Now, why is archaeology important. That is a very good question! Archaeology is important because it helps us to understand the past, and also to have a better knowledge of where we come from. It also allows us to understand other cultures better: every country has been shaped by different events and archaeology helps us understand how the world has become what it is today. As a result, it gives clues about how to act in the future so the same mistakes are not repeated.

And I will end with a quote from George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Odile, October 2025