What is archaeology?

Archaeology is the study of the past from the physical remains that people left behind. It is different to history because history is about looking at written records. What kind of things do you think people left behind? 

There are three main types of archaeological remains. There are artefacts (objects made by humans), buildings, and monuments (like wells, ditches, mounds etc…).

Artefacts

Artefacts can tell us about what people were cooking with and eating, what kind of work they did, what they wore, whether they were violent and what they believed in amongst other things. Here is a table of examples of what artefacts can tell you about. Look up any words you don't know in the glossary.

Monuments

Changes to the earth can tell us about what kind of houses people lived in as well as how they were cooking, what kind of work they did, whether they were violent and what they believed in. We have provided some examples of what different types of monuments could tell you about. Look up any terms you don't know in the glossary.

Buildings

Buildings can tell us about what kind of houses people were living in, sometimes they can tell us about what kind of work people did, and what they believed in. We have given you some examples of types of buildings that can tell us about people's lives in the past. look up any words you don't know in the glossary.

How old?

Archaeologists in Suffolk have found artefacts that date to 700,000 years ago! Do a search on Buckinghamshire’s Heritage Portal to find out what the oldest artefacts ever found in Buckinghamshire is (Tip – look for artefacts dating to the Lower Palaeolithic; this is the name given to the earliest time when humans came to Britain).

People are dropping things that will become archaeological artefacts all the time! Coins, litter on the streets and rubbish in rubbish tips are the archaeological artefacts of the future.

People didn’t really start digging into the earth and making earthworks until the Mesolithic, a time when small groups of people hunted animals, fished and gathered wild nuts and fruit (c. 8000 - 4000 BC). However, the period straight after that, called the Neolithic (c. 4000-2200 BC), is when humans started digging a lot. This is because they took up more of a farming lifestyle and started to build big religious monuments. Different periods have different types of earthworks.

These are some of the different types of monuments that you get in different periods. Look up any terms that are unfamiliar in the glossary. 

Not many buildings that were built before the Norman’s conquered England in AD 1066 have survived but there are a few. Most of our buildings date from the nineteenth and twentieth century. A lot of the older buildings are protected and are called listed buildings because they are on a big list recorded by Historic England. There are over 5000 listed buildings in Buckinghamshire. Do a search to find the oldest listed buildings on Buckinghamshire’s Heritage Portal (Tip – do an advanced search for buildings from 500-1065 AD).

There are difficulties with using archaeological evidence. Read through these statements below and tick the ones you think are true:  

1. It is sometimes hard to work out what archaeological remains are.
2. It is always easy to work out what archaeological artefacts are.
3. We know that men did the work, women cooked and children played.
4. We don’t know who built, made or dug things. It could have been men or women or children.
5. Without written records it is hard to work out what archaeological remains mean.
6. We don’t need written records to know what archaeological remains mean.
7. We can always work out why people did things in the past from looking at archaeology.
8. We can’t always work out why people did certain things in the past from looking at archaeology.

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