How do archaeologists study the past?

Archaeologists study the past by implementing a variety of scientific strategies that include survey, excavation, analysis, interpretation, and reporting. They begin by determining an area of interest to be studied. They then survey that area using a variety of methods that include laying in a grid system for testing the area of interest to locate sites.  Next, they excavate, or dig, to find evidence of past habitations. This results in recovering material culture, or artifacts. The artifacts are then taken to a laboratory where they are analyzed. This analysis including cleaning the artifacts, determining dates and functions, and entering those artifacts into a database where further statistical analysis may be performed. Once all this data is gathered and analyzed, archaeologist need to interpret what they have found. This data can tell you when a site was occupied, who lived there, what they were eating, and what time of year a site was occupied. Once the archaeologists have interpreted the data the write a report detailing the work that was done and their interpretation of the site. The report is very detailed as archaeological excavation destroys the sites being studying. The report includes photographs, field notes, and an inventory of the artifacts recovered as well as an interpretation of the site.