Archaeology. The two major divisions of archaeology are pre-historic and historic. The major dividing line between these two is the period before and after written history.

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Kristalyn van de Water

3/11/09

Anthropology 103

#0210302

                Essay #2

        

        Archaeology is a very extensive field and has a number of different specialties. The wide range of specialties in archaeology are usually determined by time period or the area being studied geographically. The two major divisions of archaeology are pre-historic and historic. The major dividing line between these two is the period before and after written history.

        Prehistoric Archaeology is the study of the past before historic records were ever written. With having no written evidence of the prehistoric past, we determine who specific people were or names or places. Archaeologists will speak in terms of cultures. Because there is no written evidence Archaeologists must rely entirely on material remains alone for evidence of past times. For example, the set of hominid footprints found in hardened volcanic ash. This was crucial evidence that hominids walked upright 3.6 million years ago.  Prehistoric Archaeology consists of the Stone Age (Paleolithic Period) in which the stone tools were being used and made by humans. Hunter-gatherers, and the first farming communities were also in prehistoric times. Prehistoric archaeology is more of a mystery and leaves much room for thought, investigation, and argumentation.

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        Historical Archaeology is where the writing of history all started and began to be recorded. It is considered to be archaeology of the most recent past, which is from approximately AD 1500 to the present. Even though historical archaeology is recorded it still is a just as crucial to understand human cultures and behavior. Also because everything has been written and recorded there are still bias views and things can be altered. So with that in mind it is good to have an open point of view about historical writings and not see it all as factual evidence. This leaves ...

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