Archaeologists study how people lived in the past by examining the things they left behind. We look at objects, buildings, landscapes, and tiny clues to understand how people lived and shaped their world.

Excavation (aka digging) is one method we use to learn about the past. Check out the video here to learn more about how we know where to dig:

If you want to see what goes on during an archaeological project, check out this video that gives you a behind-the-scenes look into my 2-week trip to Oman:

And if you would like to learn about how an archaeology project actually begins, check this interview from the Curiosity Meets The Past podcast:

Yes! I made a whole video about it:

On my podcast, Curiosity Meets The Past, I have spoken to other archaeologists about discoveries. Here are some interviews that might be helpful.

In this interview, Jacob and I discuss his team’s discovery using high tech tools and their new hypothesis about a famous site in Peru:

In this interview, Taylor and I discuss some of the discoveries she’s made using mapping and what they contributed to what we know about Medieval European public health.

In this interview, Giulia and I discuss some of her discoveries using high-tech technology while examining tiny, overlooked bones.

In this interview, Rachel and I discuss recent archaeology discoveries that deserve more attention:

Maps help us see where things happened. They help us see patterns, which is really important when we’re trying to make sense of different types of data.

I’ve used mapping in my own work. Here’s a video that provides an overview of one project:

Also, on my podcast, Curiosity Meets The Past, I have spoken to other archaeologists about mapping. Here are some interviews that might be helpful.

In this interview, Taylor and I discuss how she used mapping to learn about Medieval European public health.

In this interview, Jacob shows how drone mapping helped his team with understanding a famous Peruvian site:

Sorting helps us make sense of the huge mix of things we uncover. By grouping items (e.g., by material, type, size, use, etc.) we can see patterns and figure out what could be happening in the past. It’s important to remember that sometimes the groups and categories we made today, might not have been the same in the past.

We have a whole video on lost socks in the archaeological record and starting at 9:38, we give 3 examples of an artifact and ask our viewers if they would group those items as a sock:

Stone tools are a type of artifact that often requires sorting. Check out this video for an overview:

Finding pieces of pottery is pretty common on archaeological projects. This video shares some surprising pottery objects from the past that archaeologists definitely needed to sort out:

This is an excerpt from our interview with Giulia, where she explains why archaeologists in her region starting sieving, which is a way to screen for things on an archaeological excavation:

It definitely varied around the world. In some places, we see mudbrick houses, stone structures, wooden huts, or multi-room complexes. Their design and construction depended on available materials, climate, and cultural traditions.

Here’s a video of one of the things found at the houses of people who helped build the pyramids:

On my podcast, Curiosity Meets The Past, Katie briefly mentions some of the things she learned about what people were eating in ancient Peru (and shows images of the what’s left of the houses starting at the 1:44 mark):

It depends on what we’re doing. The Archaeological Institute of America offered a great response to this question, which you can find here.

To learn a bit about how smartphones have changed archaeology, check out this video:

Giulia discusses a new method that she uses to get protein out of bones:

Ioana explaining LiDAR:

Sure! We tell so many archaeology stories on our channel. I will link some suggestions below.

To learn how people preserved and transported and entire Egyptian temple, check out this video:

Many famous sculptures in the past were painted with colors, that have been forgotten. This video shares some examples and feel free to just the time stamps to go the example that you want to learn more about:

We have a whole video on house cats in the archaeological record, but this short highlights a story about one of the first house cats found in Central Asia:

That’s a great question! Personally, I would put put in photos, snacks, socks, books, games, and a message to whomever finds the time capsule. As you’re thinking about this question, we actually have a whole series called, Artifact of the Day, that tells you the story behind certain artifacts found in the archaeological record and what they can tell us. Some videos are linked below.

Here’s a video about some of the finds from a shipwreck, which is basically like an unintential time capsule:

Here’s a video about an artifact that was likley accidentally preserved in a layer of muck in Florida:

Here’s a video about an artifact that we had never seen before, until it was discovered alongside a mummy:

I haven’t tried yet. That sounds like fun! In my design, something I would definitely keep in mind is how to deal with waste and we have a whole video about that: