ABSTRACT
It is unlikely that you will ever come across two archaeologists who will agree exactly what archaeology is. Some do not even see it as a subject in its own right. Obviously the word 'archaeology' - or 'archeology' if you prefer - has a dictionary meaning, but even here agreement is not universal. The Concise Oxford Dictionary (7th edn, 1985), for example, states that archaeology is the "study of human antiquities' especially of the prehistoric period and usually by excavation": a good traditional view of the subject! Webster's International Dictionary (3rd edn, 1986), however, sees archaeology as "the scientific study of extinct peoples or of past phases of the culture of historic peoples through skeletal remains and objects of human workmanship found in the earth". To non-archaeologists, archaeology involves three crucial elements: 'the past', 'material remains' and 'excavation'. To many archaeologists, however, the meaning of the word and the discipline is more flexible and has shifting meaning. When exactly is 'the past'? It is not now, but it certainly was when you read the last sentence.
