Prior to European contact, the Americas were inhabited by hundreds of well-developed cultural groups with distinct and mutually unintelligible languages. The houses, tools, foods, and other aspects of life differed among these populations because they lived in different environments and met basic needs in culturally unique ways. Archaeologists dig up dinosaurs. Paleontologists study the fossil remains of extinct animals, including dinosaurs, and geologists study rocks. Archaeologists study people of the past through their material remains.
Archaeologists spend all of their time digging.
Archaeology is more than a dig. Archaeologists actually spend a relatively small amount of their time excavating, compared to the time spent in the laboratory, analyzing and interpreting their finds, and preparing written reports about the project. Moreover, some professional archaeologists are involved in the management and protection of cultural resources rather than research. Archaeologists prefer to excavate graves. The study of human remains from an archaeological site can provide important details about the diet and health of a population.