Background
Definition
Archaeology is the study of human activity in the past, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes (the archaeological record).
History of Archaeology in China
During the Song Dynasty (960–1279), the scholar Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) analyzed alleged ancient artifacts bearing archaic inscriptions in bronze and stone, which he preserved in a collection of some 400 rubbings; Patricia Ebrey writes that he pioneered early ideas in epigraphy.
The Kaogutu or "Illustrated Catalogue of Examined Antiquity" (preface dated 1092) compiled by Lü Dalin (1046–1092) is one of the oldest known catalogues to systematically describe and classify ancient artifacts which were unearthed.
History of Archaeology in Europe
In Europe, interest in the remains of Greco-Roman civilisation and the rediscovery of classical culture began in the late Middle Age. Flavio Biondo an Italian Renaissance humanist historian created a systematic guide to the ruins and topography of ancient Rome in the early 15th century for which he has been called an early founder of archaeology. The itinerant scholar Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli or Cyriacus of Ancona (1391—c.1455) also traveled throughout Greece to record his findings on ancient buildings and objects.
In England, William Cunnington (1754–1810) undertook excavations in Wiltshire from around 1798, funded by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Cunnington made meticulous recordings of neolithic and Bronze Age barrows, and the terms he used to categorise and describe them are still used by archaeologists today.
Archaeology is the study of human activity in the past, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes (the archaeological record).
History of Archaeology in China
During the Song Dynasty (960–1279), the scholar Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) analyzed alleged ancient artifacts bearing archaic inscriptions in bronze and stone, which he preserved in a collection of some 400 rubbings; Patricia Ebrey writes that he pioneered early ideas in epigraphy.
The Kaogutu or "Illustrated Catalogue of Examined Antiquity" (preface dated 1092) compiled by Lü Dalin (1046–1092) is one of the oldest known catalogues to systematically describe and classify ancient artifacts which were unearthed.
History of Archaeology in Europe
In Europe, interest in the remains of Greco-Roman civilisation and the rediscovery of classical culture began in the late Middle Age. Flavio Biondo an Italian Renaissance humanist historian created a systematic guide to the ruins and topography of ancient Rome in the early 15th century for which he has been called an early founder of archaeology. The itinerant scholar Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli or Cyriacus of Ancona (1391—c.1455) also traveled throughout Greece to record his findings on ancient buildings and objects.
In England, William Cunnington (1754–1810) undertook excavations in Wiltshire from around 1798, funded by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Cunnington made meticulous recordings of neolithic and Bronze Age barrows, and the terms he used to categorise and describe them are still used by archaeologists today.