Major Minor Archaeology Student Colloquium AIA Graduates ListServ Program Information Archaeology is an interdisciplinary field of study and research into the past, with a focus on the evidence from material culture and the natural environment. Its history as an academic field began in the 18th century with the excavation of sites such as Pompeii, and then broadened its area of study in the 19th century with a focus on the human past in its social, cultural, and natural environment. Based at first on the anticipation that the new discipline would, on occasion, illuminate issues addressed in more traditional disciplines, archaeology has expanded the group of participating disciplines and has also, while maintaining its interdisciplinary character, identified distinctive archaeological approaches and points of view.
Archaeology acts as an academic fulcrum, integrating several fields of scholarly endeavor.
Archaeology provides important support to the liberal arts mission of creating informed, aware, and conscientious citizens. Through the study of the evolution of past societies, archaeology helps the student place humanity in its chronological and ecological contexts. It explores how biological evolution is linked to the environment through the complex prism of culture and how humans have tried to solve the problems of daily living and long-term survival. Examination of the archaeological record reveals the multiple ways people have developed and organized their lives to confront variable conditions. At the same time, by showing not only what changed, but also why things changed, archaeology becomes a study of the evolving patterns of human diversity.