Archaeology
From RationalWiki
Archaeology, also spelled archeology, is the science of digging through other people's abandoned crap in hopes of finding some food or useful object (no, that's probably homelessness) in order to figure out how, and if possible, when they lived.
In constrast with sensible construction workers, archaeologists use the smallest possible tools to move the largest possible amount of dirt. The crap that archaeology studies is usually buried under craploads of dirt.
Archaeologists excavate sites of previous human habitation, and sometimes piss of the locals by digging up their forebears graves and shipping the cool stuff that was buried with them to a museum in England. This latter habit has lessened of late, and slightly more honor and respect are now paid to the neato bones and stuff that they find.
Question: If Lucy was perhaps really an ancient ancestor of most humans alive today, shouldn't we all be really pissed at Richard Leakey et familias?
Anyway, we digress.
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[edit] Careful
Archaeologists carefully scrape through layers of accumulated dirt and other debris, sifting through the material carefully to find their precious artifacts. They carefully measure exact locations and depths, and carefully note varying layers as they dig down, in order to produce voluminous carefully written reports on what they have found. Then they carefully compare notes to form careful hypotheses about all manner of aspects of the lives and times of the people they are carefully investigating. The use of fire through the ages for cooking food and whatnot has left layers off charcoal that can be used to date the remains with which they are associated.
Yes, archaeologists are careful.
[edit] Popularization
In the UK a popular TV programme (Time Team: Ch 4) has greatly increased the exposure of archaeology. The team of about five regular members and sundry assistants/labourers is interpreted by Tony Robinson (who played Baldrick in the Blackadder comedies). They have three days to examine a site (Why three? - who knows) and computer graphics are used extensively throughout the show.
