Archaeology
 

Archaeology is a method of acquiring information about the past through the systematic collection of data through survey and excavation.  The value of the data collected is directly related to the care with which it was collected.  The analysis of archaeological material takes into account its findspot within a stratigraphic sequence. As well the analysis undertakes to compare types of artifacts with other examples. 

​Material Science

Chemistry, petrography, faunal and floral analysis are common techniques of material science which are applied to archaeological materials.   Through them we can learn much about the nature of the ancient artifacts.  With metals we can understand their composition and we can determine their methods of manufacture which informs us about the history of technology.  We can determine the contents of vessels through residue analysis, and we can propose the sources of raw materials based on their trace elements.  Material science plays an every greater role in the study of the ancient world.

Textual Sources

​Writing was invented  for the first time in southern Mesopotamia around 3000 BCE. From the very beginning its purpose was to keep track of goods and people.  From that time writing gradually was used to record many different kinds of human concerns.  New purposes for writing included recording contracts between people, recording stories important to the community, commerating important historical events just to mention a few.  These historical sources come in two forms.  For the Bronze Age and much of the Iron Age texts in Mesopotamia were written in cuneiform script on clay tablets.  Around 800 or so a new script came to dominate the trading communities. This was Aramaic script written in wax, or on papyrus or parchment or pottery sherds.  
Other kinds of textual sources include docments like the Bible which have been preserved by being handed down through repeated copies.  Many of the historical texts that report on trade and travelers and routes belong to this mode of transmission.  Textual evidence, which can be either verbal or visual, is vital to our knowledge of the past.

​Analogy

Humans are always using analogy to explain and to understand things.  You will find that analogy is a very useful way to think about archaeological evidence. But one must be very very careful not to simply impose directly our knowledge from recent or contemporary cultures to those from a long time ago and in a completely different cultural and historical context.