Importance and applicability
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Importance
and Applicability
Most
of human history is not described by any written
records. Writing did not exist anywhere in the
world until about 5000 years ago, and only spread
among a relatively small number of technologically
advanced civilizations. These civilizations are,
not coincidentally, the best-known; they have
been open to the inquiry of historians for centuries,
while archaeology has arisen only recently. Even
within a civilization that is literate at some
levels, many important human practices are not
officially recorded. Any knowledge of the formative
early years of human civilization - the development
of agriculture, cult practices of folk religion,
the rise of the first cities - must come from
archaeology.
Even where written records do exist, they are
invariably incomplete or biased to some extent.
In many societies, literacy was restricted to
the elite classes, such as the clergy or the bureaucracy
of court or temple. The literacy even of an aristocracy
has sometimes been restricted to deeds and contracts.
The interests and world-view of elites are often
quite different from the lives and interests of
the masses. Any writings that were produced by
people more representative of the general population
were unlikely to find their way into libraries
and be preserved there for posterity. Thus, written
records tend to reflect the biases of the literate
classes, and cannot be trusted as a sole source.
The material record is nearer to a fair representation
of society, though it is subject to its own inaccuracies,
such as sampling bias and differential preservation.
In addition to their scientific importance, archaeological remains sometimes have political significance
to descendants of the people who produced them,
monetary value to collectors, or simply strong
aesthetic appeal. Many people identify archaeology with the recovery of such aesthetic, religious,
political or economic treasures rather than the
reconstruction of past societies.
This view is often espoused in works of popular
fiction, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The
Mummy, and King Solomon's Mines where the field
has become profitable fodder for entertainment.
When such unrealistic subjects are treated more
seriously, accusations of pseudo science are invariably
leveled at their proponents (see Pseudo archaeology,
below). However, these endeavors, real and fictional,
are not representative of the modern state of
archaeology.
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