Important Information About Southeast Alaska Archaeology

By James McDonald


Generally, archaeology involve the study of the ancient and recent past of the human through material remains. Archaeologists normally analyze physical remains while they seek to follow a broad and a comprehensive understanding of human culture. However, Southeast Alaska archaeology can help you have a unique perspective of the human history and culture that has greatly contributed to understanding the ancient as well as the recent past.

As a matter of fact, archaeologists helps us to know when and where people lived and also how and why they lived. They examine the changes as well as the causes of such changes which have happened in the human culture, and seek patterns and explanations for everything from when and how people came to inhabit different areas, the origin of agriculture and the complex societies.

Unlike history that primarily rely on written records and documents to analyze significant lives and events, archaeology goes far back to a time before the written languages came to be, and examines everyday lives of humans by looking at what they made or even left behind. At the same time, this is the only field whose study looks at all times periods as well as geographical regions where people lived.

As a matter of fact, it has helped people to understand other big topics such as the ancient Egyptian religion, the origin of agriculture, the live of Africans enslaved in North America, as well as the early Mediterranean trade routes. At the same time, archaeologists can today inform about the lives of communities, families and individuals which might otherwise remain invisible. In fact, without what archaeologists have unearthed and discovered, what is written in the history books would be very different. They also help people understand the interaction of humans with other objects and the architecture outside what is written in history.

Normally, archaeologists use artifacts in building models of how cultures were like. They search for patterns on these artifacts so that they get an insight of the way individuals who made them and utilized them lived. For instance, they look at the way pottery making people in southwest changed in due course through a reflection of their designs, decorations, skills and technologies used together with the uses to such pottery.

Any place archaeologists have discovered or unearthed physical remains for human activities is known as the archaeological site. Usually, there are many kinds of such archaeological sites. The archaeological site may be very small such as chipped stone tool which might have been left behind by a hunter when sharpening his spear or the site can as well be big and complex.

Even when the archaeological sites are small, they may still contain more wealth of important information. Archaeologists look at objects made and used so as to collect information on people who made and used them.

The non-portable artifacts which are known as features form an important source of information for the archaeologists. Such features may include the likes of soil stains which may indicate where garbage dumps, storage pits, fences or structures once existed. Eco-facts such as animal and plant remains can also help in understanding diet and the subsistence patterns of ancient people.




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