Etymological Definition and Functional Definition of Archaeology
Etymological definition
of archaeology, archaeology come from
two Greek words
which are ‘archaeos’ which means
ancient, and ‘Logos’
which means word,
discussion or reasons. That means archaeo- + -ology is the
“scientific study of ancient peoples and past civilizations". By definition
is the science
by which the
remains of ancient
man can be
methodically and systematically studied to obtain
as complete a picture
as possible of ancient culture and society
and there by
to reconstruct past ways
of life. (Joukowsky,
1977:2).
The following are the ten definitions of Archaeology
from different books, which are defined below;
The first definition, Archaeology is a scientific
study of ancient human behaviour based on the surviving materials remains of
the past. (Fagan, 1999:13).
The second definition, Archaeology is partly the
discovery of the treasures of the past, partly the meticulobus work of the
scientific analyst, partly the exercise of the creative imagination. (Colin,
2008:2).
The third definition, Archaeology is the study of the
old things of the fast, more then just reading about the through archaeology
encompasses the techniques and approach used to study the past and ways of
interpreting past events. (Staeck, 2002:2).
The fourth definition, Archaeology is a special form
of anthropology that uses material remains to study extinct human societies.
(Fagan, 2000:398).
Another definition from the same book, archaeology is
the ancient human behaviour based on surviving materials remains of the past. (Fagan,
2000:13).
The fifth definition, Archaeology is the past tense of
cultural anthropology where as cultural anthropologist will often base their
conclussion on the experience of actually living within contemporary
communities, archaeologists study past societies primary through their material
remains – the building tools and other artifacts that constitute what is known
as the material culture left from the former societies, Archaelogy is concerned
with the full range of past human experience how people organized themselves
into social group and exploited their surroundings; what they ate, made and
believed; how they communicated and why their societies changed. (Refrew&Bahn,
1994:11).
The sixth definition, Archaeology is the study of past
humans and societies primarily through their material remains. The building
tools and other artifacts that constituted what is material culture left over
from former societies. (Renfew&Bahn, 2012:12).
The seventh definition, Archaeology is the study of
the past through its material remains. (Mathew, 2009:2).
The eighth definition, Archaeology is the study of
human past through its material remains. To study the past, archaeologist have
developed a series of methods by which they discover, recover, preserve,
describe and analyze these remains, reffered to as the archaeological record.
(Ashmore&Sharer, 2009:10).
Another definition from the same book, archaeology is
the study of human past through materials remains with the aim of ordering and
describing the events of the past and explaining their meaning. (Ashmore&Sharer,
2009:10).
The ninth definition, Archaeology is the role
discipline in the social science concerned, with reconstructing and
understanding human behaviour on the basis of remains left by our pre
historical and historic forebears. (Fagan, 1996:42).
The tenth definition, Archaeology is the study and
preservation of the materials remains of past societies and their environment,
that now days also includes modern material culture. (Cunliffe, Gosden &
Joyce, 2009:4).
The functional definition of archaeology;
Archaeology is the study of human culture using
cultural phenomena. Cultural phenomena means cultural materials or cultural
remains.
To sum up, archaeology can be defined by using two
perspective, etymological definition and functional definition. Also
archaeology explain human culture based on evidence. The main factor to
determine culture is looking on the society tools using. The challenge is that,
not every cultural activity lives behind material evidence. Archaeology
is not only important because it has helped start museums and write history
books, but it also helps us understand who we are and where we came from. Without
this information people would not be able to advance themselves into the
society we are today.
REFERENCES:
Bahn P&Colin R. (1994). Archaeology theories Methods and Practice. New York: Thames and
Hudson.
Sharer R & Wendy A. (2009). Discovering Our Past fifth edition. Boston: Mc Graw Hill Higher
Education.
Mathew J. (2009). Archaeological
Theory an Introduction second edition: Wiley Blackwell:
Oxford Students Dictionary, (2007). UK: Oxford
University Press.
Cunliffe, B & Gosden, C and Joyce, R. (2009). The Oxford Handbook of Archaeology. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Joukowsky M. (1977). A Complete Manual of Field Archaeology. New Jersey: Prentice –
Hall, INC Englewood Cliffs.
Fagan B. (2009). Archaeology
a Brief Introduction: Santa Barbara: University of California.
Fagan B, (1999). Archaeology
a Brief Introduction:
Colin R. (2008). Archaeology
Theories, Methods and Practice. UK: Themes & Hudson.
Drewett P. (1992). Field
Archaeology an Introduction. London and New York: Routtedge Tylor &
Francis Group.
Staeck J. (2002). Back
to the Earth an introduction to archaeology. London: Toronto Press Mayfield
publishing company.