Why is Archaeology Important?

By Elenore on January 28, 2016

Archaeology provides us with the opportunity to learn about past cultures through the study of artifacts, animal bones and sometimes human bones. Studying these artifacts helps to provide us with some insight about what life was like for people who left behind no written record. In the case of historical archaeology the artifacts can help us to recognize that historic documents often don’t speak for all the people and can provide us with a picture of what life was like for people who are seldom responsible for the written record such as illiterate peasants in medieval Europe and pre-civil war era slave populations in the southern States of the USA.

In Canada and around the world archaeology has been used as evidence in court in the cases of Aboriginal land title claims to corroborate oral histories and to document land and resource use over time. Archaeology can be used to learn about the successes and failures of past cultures and societies. Knowing what has been tried in the past can help us to make better decisions about the future. Learning about archaeology and past lifeways can help to give us perspective about how life was compared to how it is today; this helps us to remember the hardships of people of the past and to recognize and respect that the technologies we take for granted today have been hard won by our ancestors.

Related Posts

 

By Corey Cookson

Mountain range, backlit by the afternoon sun

October 17, 2023

International Archaeology Day

What is it? International Archaeology Day is a celebration of Archaeology and it’s contributions to society! International Archaeology Day annually falls on the third Saturday of October (October 21st), and was first celebrated in 2011. The day was originally designed on a national level to help promote public participation and awareness of the important contributions

Keep Reading

By Alyssa Hamza

August 10, 2023

“The Last Great Battle”

Battle of Belly River, 1870 For International Indigenous Day, there are an unlimited number of topics that we could discuss. This year, since Lethbridge is my home and I’m interested in it’s history, I decided to write about “The Battle of the Belly River”, also called the “The Last Great Indian Battle”. One of the

Keep Reading

By Braedy Chapman

July 2, 2023

Top sites of 2022, BC edition

Field operations in British columbia 2022 marked Ember Archaeology’s first year of significant field operations in British Columbia. Our BC crews conducted a number of sizable wildfire-related projects for the BC Ministry of Forests over the course of the season, ultimately surveying hundreds of kilometers of constructed fireguards and fuel reduction developments. These were nearly

Keep Reading