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21 October 2016

Learn More About Southeast Alaska Archaeology

By James McDonald


Basically, archaeology involves studying the ancient as well as the recent human past by looking at material remains. Archaeologist usually analyzes the physical remains as they seek to pursue a comprehensive and a broad understanding of the human culture. With Southeast Alaska archaeology, you can get a unique perspective on the human culture and history which has significantly contributed to the understanding of the ancient and the recent past.

In reality, archaeologists assist us in knowing where and when people stayed as well as why and how they lived. They scrutinize the changes and the reasons these changes may have happened to the human culture and look for patterns or explanations for all items beginning with when and how a given people ended up inhabiting a given area. They also seek to understand the origin of complex societies and of agriculture.

As opposed to history which primarily relies on written documents and records to interpret significant events and lives, archaeology helps to go far back, to the time before written languages evolved, and looks at everyday lives of people by analyzing things they made or left behind. On the other hand, this is the only field of study which covers all time periods and geographical regions that were inhabited by people.

In reality, it has assisted people to come to the knowledge of other greater topics like the beginning of agriculture, the lives of enslaved Africans in North America, the early trade routes in Mediterranean as well as the early Egyptian religion. On the other hand, archaeologist are today able to tell concerning the life of individuals, families and communities, which may have otherwise remained invisible. In fact, without the discoveries of archaeologists, the information on written history books could have been very different. They as well help people to understand human interactions to other objects as well as the architecture beyond written history.

Again, archaeologists look at artifacts to come up with a pattern of how the human culture was like. They look at artifacts so as they can get an idea how people who created such artifacts or used them lived. For instance, they analyze how the southeast people who made pottery transformed with time by looking at their skills, designs and decorations, technology used, and the ways in which they used the pottery.

Any place where archaeologists have unearthed or discovered the physical remains of human activities is known as an archaeological site. Normally, there are many types of these archaeological sites. An archaeological site can be as small as a chipped stone tool that could have been left by a hunter who sought to sharpen his spear point, or else, the site can be large and complex.

Even if the archaeological site is so small, it may contain so much wealth of very important information. Archaeologists analyze the objects that were made and used by people in order to get information about the people who made such objects.

Additionally, non-portable artifacts known as features are a vital source of information to the archaeologists. Such features include soil stains that probably indicate the location of storage pits, garbage dumps, structures or fences. Eco-facts like plants and animals can give an insight of the subsistence patterns or diets of ancient communities.




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