History

Main article: History of archaeology

Antiquarians
Main article: Antiquarian
The science of archaeology (from Greek ???a??????a, archaiologia from ???a???, a
rkhaios, "ancient" and -????a, -logia, "-logy")[4] grew out of the older multi-d
isciplinary study known as antiquarianism. Antiquarians studied history with par
ticular attention to ancient artifacts and manuscripts, as well as historical si
tes. Antiquarianism focused on the empirical evidence that existed for the under
standing of the past, encapsulated in the motto of the 18th-century antiquary, S
ir Richard Colt Hoare, "We speak from facts not theory". Tentative steps towards
the systematization of archaeology as a science took place during the Enlighten
ment era in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.[5]
In Europe, philosophical interest in the remains of Greco-Roman civilization and
the rediscovery of classical culture began in the late Middle Age. Flavio Biond
o, an Italian Renaissance humanist historian, created a systematic guide to the
ruins and topography of ancient Rome in the early 15th century, for which he has
been called an early founder of archaeology. Antiquarians, including John Lelan
d and William Camden, conducted surveys of the English countryside, drawing, des
cribing and interpreting the monuments that they encountered.