Archaeology, or archeology,[1] is the study of human activity through the recove

ry and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artif

acts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology c
an be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities.[2] In Nor
th America, archaeology is considered a sub-field of anthropology,[3] while in E
urope archaeology is often viewed as either a discipline in its own right or a s
ub-field of other disciplines.
Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the f
irst stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent
decades. Archaeology as a field is distinct from the discipline of paleontology
, the study of fossil remains. Archaeology is particularly important for learnin
g about prehistoric societies, for whom there may be no written records to study
. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the
advent of literacy in societies across the world.[2] Archaeology has various go
als, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifew
ays to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time.
The discipline involves surveying, excavation and eventually analysis of data co
llected to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cros
s-disciplinary research. It draws upon anthropology, history, art history, class
ics, ethnology, geography, geology, linguistics, semiology, physics, information
sciences, chemistry, statistics, paleoecology, paleontology, paleozoology, pale
oethnobotany, and paleobotany.