Methods and Aims in Archaeology

Archaeology is the latest born of the sciences. It has but scarcely struggled into freedom, out of the swaddling clothes of dilettante speculations. It is still attracted by pretty things, rather than by real knowledge. It has to find shelter with the Fine Arts or with History, and not a single home has yet been provided for its real growth. All other sciences deal with the things around us; with subjects which may, or may not, affect us. Even medical sciences are concerned with the mechanical structure of the body, rather than with the nature and abilities of the mind. But the science which enquires into all the products and works of our own species, which shows what man has been doing in all ages and under all conditions, which reveals his mind, his thoughts, his tastes, his feelings,—such a science touches us more closely than any other. By this science, of which History forms a part, we trace the nature of man, age after age,—his capacities, his abilities; we learn where he succeeds, where he fails, and what his possibilities may be. From another point of view the subject should be considered; it gives a more truly “liberal education” than any other subject, as at present taught. A complete archaeological training would require a full knowledge of history and art, a fair use of languages, and a working familiarity with many sciences.