What is archeology?

The word archeology stems from the Latin words archaeos, meaning ancient and logos, meaning word, discussion or reason. Archeology is the science by which the material remains of humanity can be recovered and analyzed in order to obtain as complete a picture as possible of ancient human life. Archeology is the systematic study of prehistoric and historic cultures by recovery and scientific analysis of their artifacts, monuments and remains in context. These tangible items, artifacts, monuments and remains, include such things as projectile points, knives, scrapers, stone debitage, remains of houses and trash pits as well as the remains of food, such as chard wood, bone or nuts.