Archaeology

Archaeology is a source of history, not just a humble auxiliary discipline. Archaeological data are historical documents in their own right, not mere illustrations to written texts. Just as much as any other historian, an archaeologist studies and tries to reconstitute the process that has created the human world in which we live -- and us ourselves in so far as we are each creatures of our age and social environment. Archaeological data are all changes in the material world resulting from human action or, more succinctly, the fossilized results of human behavior. The sum total of these constitutes what may be called the archaeological record. This record exhibits certain peculiarities and deficiencies the consequences of which produce a rather superficial contrast between archaeological history and the more familiar kind based upon written records.
　　
Not all human behavior fossilizes. The words I utter and you hear as vibrations in the air are certainly human changes in the material world and may be of great historical significance. Yet they leave no sort of trace in the archaeological records unless they are captured by a dictaphone or written down by a clerk.

The movement of troops on the battlefield may ”change the course of history,” but this is equally ephemeral from the archaeologist‘s standpoint. What is perhaps worse, most organic materials are perishable. Everything made of wood, hide, wool, linen, grass, hair, and similar materials will decay and vanish in dust in a few years or centuries, save under very exceptional conditions. In a relatively brief period the archaeological record is reduced to mere scraps of stone, bone, glass, metal, and earthenware. Still modern archaeology, by applying appropriate techniques and comparative methods, aided by a few lucky finds from peat-bogs, deserts, and frozen soils, is able to fill up a good deal of the gap.

全文翻譯：
　
考古學(xué)是歷史學(xué)的一個(gè)來源，而不是地位卑微的輔助學(xué)科。 考古學(xué)資料本身也是一種 歷史文獻(xiàn)，而不僅僅是文字資料的例證。 正象任何一位歷史學(xué)家那樣，考古學(xué)家研究調(diào)查 并盡力去重構(gòu)一個(gè)過程。 這個(gè)過程創(chuàng)造了我們生活的人類世界，也創(chuàng)造了我們自身，因?yàn)?我們都是我們所處的時(shí)代和社會(huì)環(huán)境的產(chǎn)物。 考古學(xué)的資料就是人類行為所造成的物質(zhì)變 化。 更簡潔地說，是石化了的人類行為。 這些變化的總和構(gòu)成了我們所說的考古學(xué)記錄。 這些記錄自有其獨(dú)特和不足之處，因而導(dǎo)致人們對(duì)考古歷史和更熟悉的文字記載歷史進(jìn)行相 當(dāng)膚淺的對(duì)比。
　　
并不是所有的人類行為都留下化石。 我說的話，你通過空氣振動(dòng)聽見，這 當(dāng)然是人類造成的物質(zhì)變化，也可能有重大的歷史意義，但這些話在考古學(xué)中未留下絲毫痕 跡，除非有人用錄音機(jī)錄下來或文書把這些話寫了下來。
　　
戰(zhàn)場上軍隊(duì)的行動(dòng)可能”改變歷史 的進(jìn)程”，但從考古學(xué)的觀點(diǎn)來看，這同樣是難以捕捉的；可能更糟的是，多數(shù)有機(jī)物質(zhì)會(huì) 腐爛。 任何由木頭、生皮、絨線、亞麻、草、毛發(fā)以及相似物質(zhì)做成的東西除非在一些非 常特殊的條件下，幾年或幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以后，會(huì)在塵土中腐爛并消失。 在短時(shí)期內(nèi)，能留下考 古記錄的東西也都會(huì)退化為石頭、骨頭、玻璃、金屬和陶器的碎片。 然而，現(xiàn)代考古學(xué)通 過運(yùn)用適當(dāng)?shù)募夹g(shù)和比較的方法，在從泥炭、沙漠和凍土中所獲得的一些幸運(yùn)發(fā)現(xiàn)的輔助下， 能夠填充這個(gè)空缺的很大部分。