Archaeology, aided by oral traditions and comparisons of preserved cultural traits, provides the only means of discovering how people lived, where they came from and went to, etc. Archaeology is often used today as evidence of long-term occupation in land claims settlements. The archaeology of the historic period is different, however, in that many of the details of these periods are preserved in written records. The archaeology of these periods, then, is more important as an independent means of checking historical records and, often, as the only means of learning the history of those who were often ignored by historical documents. Up until the last century, for example, only a small number of the wealthy or powerful were literate and the history we know today is often just their version of the events that unfolded.
Few details remain of the lifestyles of the poor or isolated, such as early pioneers.
Although archaeology is somewhat biased by reliance upon what is preserved in the ground as artifacts and by how this information is retrieved and analyzed, the biases are different than those of historical records and so act as an independent means of assessing this history. Archaeologists are also able to learn important aspects of peoples lives that may not be as easily obtained by other means. Since archaeology is uniquely able to view people over very long periods of time, it is uniquely able to explore certain aspects of their lifestyles through various kinds of changes. By studying various First Nations groups from the prehistoric to historic periods, for example, archaeology is able to examine how their lifestyles changed during contact with Europeans or, in many ways, how changes were incorporated into traditional lifestyles. Some archaeologists have found, for example, that many European items were readily adopted by First Nations people but were interpreted and employed in ways foreign to the makers of these items.