The scientific study and reconstruction of the human past through the systematic recovery of the physical remains of man's life and cultures: Artifacts, structures, settlements, materials, and features of prehistoric or ancient peoples are all part of archaeology including being surveyed and/or excavated to uncover history in times before written records.

Archaeology also supplements the study of recorded history. From the end of the 18th century onwards, archaeology has come to mean the branch of learning which studies the material remains of mankind's past. Its scope is, therefore, enormous, ranging from the first stone tools made and fashioned by man over three million years ago in Africa, to the garbage thrown into our trash cans and taken to city dumps and incinerators yesterday.

The objectives of archaeology are to construct cultural history by ordering and describing the events of the past, to study cultural processes to explain the meaning of those events and what underlies and conditions human behavior, and to reconstruct past lifeways.

Among the specialties in the field are: archaeobiology, archaeobotany, archaeozoology, and social archaeology. Modern archaeology, which is often considered a subdiscipline of anthropology, has become increasingly scientific and relies on a wide variety of experts, such as biologists, geologists, physicists, sociologists, anthropologists, and historians.

The methods appropriate to different periods vary, leading to specialized branches of the subject, e.g. classical, medieval, industrial, etc. archaeology.

A field within historical archaeology specializing in the study of Old World Greek and Roman civilizations, their antecedents, and their contemporaries: Many archaelolgists were interested in studying classical archaeology describing the societies they had perused in written works in Greek and Latin.

The archaeological study of the period and sites of the Industrial Revolution and later: Industrial archaeology is the research of machines, methods, buildings, and locations which are characteristic of the early history of the Industrial Revolution or used by various industries in the past.

Industrial archaeology involves the discovery, recording, and investigation of the material remains of past industrial activities, covering ways of making, transporting, and distributing products.

The use of selective archeological evidence, real or imagined, to promulgate nonscientific, fictional accounts of the past: The methods used by pseudoarchaeology include exaggeration of evidence, romanticised conclusions, the employment of fallacy, and fictionalised evidence.

Other known terms for pseudoarchaeology are alternative archaeology, fantastic archaeology, and spooky archaeology.

A branch of archeeology dealing with the impact of construction and development on archaeological sites and laws enacted to lessen the threat: In the U.S., public archaeology has helped to create the industries of salvage archaeology or cultural resource management (in the U.K., it is called "rescue archaeology").

Archaeological techniques dependent on counting, measuring, and the use of statistical methods and computers: Amanda was amazed at the number of aspects involved in quantitative archaeology to find out as much as possible regarding historical remains found in sites.

The branch of archaeology devoted to studying artifacts and features on sites which are imminently threatened by development in the form of the construction of dams, buildings, highways, etc,: Rescue archaeology is concerned with the threats to archaeological remains occurring in the form of road-building, road improvement, new building of houses, offices, and industrial complexes, the flooding of valleys for reservoirs, and improved farming techniques involving the use of deep plowing.

The rescue, or salvage, archaeologist, is concerned with the retrieval of as much information as possible about the archaeological sites before they are damaged or destroyed. Frequently time is too short and funds are too limited for anything but a brief survey.

A branch of ancient times that are devoted to studying artifacts and features on sites which are in danger of being damaged or destroyed by development in the form of the construction of dams, buildings, highways, etc.: Salvage archaeology includes the location, recording (usually through excavation), and collection of archaeological data from a site in advance of highway construction, drainage projects, or urban development.

In the U.S., the first major program of salvage archaeology was undertaken during the1930s, ahead of the construction and dam building done by the Tennessee Valley authority.

The rescue, or salvage, archaeologist, is concerned with the retrieval of as much information as possible about the archaeological sites before they are damaged or destroyed.