When you think of archaeology , most people think of buried treasures or lost cities, and yes some archaeologists have discovered these things. But archaeology isn't about fame and fortune. It is a way of learning about people who lived in the past, where they lived, what they ate, what they believed and the effects they had on the environment. Archaeologists study these by looking at the physical remains left behind by these people. Fixtures, such as evidence for site occupation, standing buildings or the remains of buildings that have later been buried underground, evidence of farming, and environmental remains such as plant remains.
Archaeology only deals with the human past.
We call the family of species we belong to hominids and the earliest remains of hominids are about 2 million years old. Archaeology does not deal with dinosaurs or other similar fossils. Dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years go. From the beginning of the human race millions of years ago to the remains of 20th century industry, archaeology provides us with information such as the beginning of agriculture, the origin of towns, or the discovery of metals and often these can only be understood through the examination of physical evidence. Archaeologists divide time into periods in order to make it easier to understand.