Fundamentals of Archaeology - Essay Example

Archaeology is one of the third fields in anthropology. Even though there is no theoretical base that unites the anthropology discipline, culture has been a concept that connects anthropologists into a single discipline. Archaeology has been an independent university department from biological or socio-cultural anthropology in Europe, Africa, and Asia; the United States including, but it is increasingly being perceived as social studies in some other European countries and the United Kingdom. The reading provides insight into archaeology, a field, which seems to be full of challenges.

Archaeology is conducted by collecting the basic data of the past, and the data is analyzed by the use of artifacts. Features and artifacts are spread throughout the world. However, the relative density varies. In order to study the archaeological materials, appropriate analytical techniques must be applied. Archeological records are formulated from the features, artifacts, and sites, and several models have been set to link hypotheses, for example, the African Origins, Eve, and Total Replacement models.

However, some of these methodologies seem to have shortcomings because the models are not credible. The archaeological data may not be a perfect reflection, but it presents as a product of factors. Many archaeologists face several problems with the infestation of the ancient physical world with insignificant material; therefore, reconstruction of reality seems to be difficult. The archaeologists are forced to select and do surveys in some areas in order to find important remains. Locating and excavating areas may involve the use of walking surveys, photogrammetric, and magnetometric techniques.

However, the use of GPS has to lead to efficiency in location, recording, and accuracy of data. Some archaeologists face problems in obtaining funds to do long-term projects. Therefore, the text provides a complete overview of the field of archaeology and the experiences of archaeologists.