The simple definition of archeology is typically given as: the study of people in the past, using the things that they left behind. Archeologists have historically spent most of their time looking at this material culture and trying to understand how it was used and what it meant to people who lived in various parts of the world throughout history. But to do this well and to understand the bigger picture of the archeological data, archeologists must often be experts in other fields in addition to anthropology and/or archeology. These fields can be other sciences like zoology, botany, or chemistry, or they can be social sciences, liberal arts, or humanities like economics, art history, or history. Because archeology is about people and often involves groups of collaborators to make projects work, other skills, knowledge, and abilities are essential to archeology as well. These can include public outreach, diplomacy, volunteering, and even negotiation and deep knowledge of the law. In this series we plan to highlight the many and various things that Are Archeology, from Art to Zoology and everything in between. We hope you enjoy learning a bit more about the variety of things that archeologists do and specialize in and maybe it will inspire you to be an archeologist even if you love learning about things in another field.
If you have a topic that you’d like to see covered or if you are interested in contributing an article, email Michelle (mmrathga@uark.edu).
