When it comes to Archaeology, the term is new for many people in India. I am an Archaeology student and when I tell them what I am pursuing, they always ask me the counter-question i.e. What is Archaeology?
and after that, in a simple term, I have to explain to them that we do study in ancient history as well as we do look after forts, museums. We do excavations, explorations, and look after all the heritage properties our country have. but many among them act confused until I take the name of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). This name is quite famous in India after Ayodhya Case (Ram-Janma-Bhumi Case). I want to proudly elaborate that on the base of the report from ASI, our Supreme Court given the decision in the favour of Ram Mandir. So let’s try to explore more about Archaeology and it’s Definition. There are many definitions of Archaeology according to scholars.
Definition of Archaeology-
According to Wikipedia- “Archaeology, or archeology, is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both social science and a branch of the humanities.”
“Archaeology: a sub-discipline of anthropology involving the study of human past through its material remains” (Renfew and Bahm 1991)
Or
Archaeology: use of human remains to solve the problems of another discipline, such as anthropology or art history” (Rouse 1992).
In Archaeology we do a lot of research on various aspect of past human life, like what our ancestor used to look like, what they use to eat, how they use to live any more aspect, we just compare our present to their past and try to find the evidence remains through the excavation and the similarities from old cultures of the world.
Growth of Archaeology in India- “The Archaeological and Historical efforts started because of Sir William Jones, he established the Asiatic Society on 15th January 1784 in Calcutta, Archaeology obtained formal, or official recognition in 1861, when Alexander Cunningham was Appointed to undertake a systematic investigation of ancient and medieval monuments and sites in India.” (Ghosh 1989)
Types of Archaeology- there are different types of archaeology, prehistoric, historical, and underwater archeology.
Prehistoric Archaeology-
According to Wikipedia- “Prehistoric archaeology is the study of the past before historical records began. It is a field of research that looks at all the pre-urban societies of the world. It also has a distinctive set of procedures for analyzing material remains so that archaeologists can reconstruct their ecological settings.”
In prehistory we study about all the material remains before history, for example, we compare our today’s environment from that time, we try to compare today’s tribal societies to prehistoric society and try to come on the conclusion, what life they people have lived, what type of animals was there at that type of environment, what was the food they used to consume, and what type of clothes they wear, and in excavation the evidence we get we can easily get an idea about the atmosphere and environment they have lived and also we get an idea the way environment has been changed from millions of year.
Historical Archaeology- According to Wikipedia– “Historical archaeology is a form of archaeology dealing with places, things, and issues from the past or presents when written records and oral traditions can inform and Contextualize cultural material. These records can both complement and conflict with the archaeological evidence found at a particular site.”
In Historical Archeology we Study about the places, things and issues which was written in historical record or we are listening from folk tells or old tradition we follow. For example, we always hear and read about Ramayana and Mahabharata but we don’t know it’s true or wrong or its just epics to confirm that the excavations which were held on such mentioned places with the help of Historical Archeology.
Underwater Archeology- According to Wikipedia- “Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras.”
Underwater Archaeology is a term used for studying and excavating all the prehistoric or historical material from the water, its different kind of Archaeology because the methods which were practiced here was different from the field Archaeology.
A career in Archaeology- To start a career in Archaeology you need to do your Masters in Archaeology from Recognizing university.
Types of Job Roles for Archaeologist:
Museum/ Gallery Exhibition Officer: He/ She is responsible for planning and organizing permanent or traveling exhibitions. They also manage or supervise activities in museums.
Documentation Specialist: An archaeologist who studies the documents of past cultures, societies and compiles them in the order is called as a documentation specialist.
Urban Archaeologists: These types of archaeologists play a significant role in studying urban centers or cities.
Pre-Historic Archaeologist: An archaeologist who examines human traditions associated with the pre-historic or historic era is called as Pre-Historic Archaeologists.
Paleontologist: An archaeologist who studies life forms that existed on the Earth before the advent of humans is called Paleontologist.
Environmental Archaeologist: A person who studies the impact of the environment on the past societies and societies’ impact on the environment is called Environmental Archaeologist.
Experimental Archaeologist: An archaeologist who replicates obsolete objects and processes to have an understanding of their work is called Experimental Archaeologist.
Marine Archaeologist: Marine Archaeologist is also called an underwater archaeologist who studies and examines the remains of ships along with the study of cultures that were developed along the coastline.
Lecturer: The person who is an expert in the field of Archaeology and teachers students in universities or college is called Archaeology lecturer.
Also, there are many types of jobs for an Archeologist; like he/she can write an article for a newspaper or host the historical show on television or you can work for any tour company, historical tourism is very well known in India, or you can work for Archeological Survey of India (ASI) the government body who runs everything, which came under the Ministry of Culture.
Conclusion: The people who are more interested in ancient history and our heritage are very well known the importance of archaeology; There are many sub-branches of archaeology and which are different from each other but the only thing which combines them is the human curiosity to know about our past;
A career in Archaeology is easy if you are passionate about it.
Dammm!!!! This is so good!♥️
Thank you!
I always find archeology a boring subject to talk. But this time this is amazing!🌼🙌
Thank you!