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132-514: The term "Pastoral Neolithic" is used most often by archaeologists to describe early pastoralist periods in eastern Africa (also known as the "East African Neolithic"). In the Sahara, hunter-gatherers first adopted livestock (e.g., cattle, sheep, goats) in the eighth to seventh millennia BP. As the grasslands of the Green Sahara began drying out in the mid- Holocene , herders then spread into

264-565: A social science and a branch of the humanities . It is usually considered an independent academic discipline , but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach ), history or geography . Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology

396-826: A "single origin" of Homo sapiens within Africa. Recent genetic and archeologic data suggests that Homo sapiens-subgroups originated in multiple regions of Africa, not confined to a single sub-region of origin, with the last common ancestor of all modern humans expanding from a single region absorbing or replacing various deep lineages (described as archaic ghosts). The H. sapiens ancestral to proper Eurasians most likely left Northeastern Africa between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. The "recent African origin" model proposes that all modern non-African populations descend from one or several waves of H. sapiens that left Africa 70,000-60,000 years ago. According to Durvasula et al. (2020), there are indications that 2% to 19% (≃6.6 to 7.0%) of

528-669: A Fulani community from Burkina Faso inferred two major admixture events in this group, dating to ~1800 ya, and 300 ya. The first admixture event took place between the West African ancestors of the Fula and ancestral North African nomadic groups. The second admixture event, relatively recent, inferred a source from Southwestern Europe, or suggests either an additional gene flow between the Fulani and Northern African groups, who carry admixture proportions from Europeans. Sahelian populations like

660-566: A Nilotic-related population occurred around 6000-5000 BP in northeastern Africa, associated with the spread of pastoralism. This admixed population then migrated southwards, mixing further with East African foragers, before reaching the Turkana Basin around 5000 BP (3000 BC). Among modern populations, the Pastoral Neolithic samples were found to have greatest similarities to certain modern Cushitic speaking peoples , who harbour

792-464: A basic level of analysis, artifacts found are cleaned, catalogued and compared to published collections. This comparison process often involves classifying them typologically and identifying other sites with similar artifact assemblages. However, a much more comprehensive range of analytical techniques are available through archaeological science , meaning that artifacts can be dated and their compositions examined. Bones, plants, and pollen collected from

924-563: A big impact throughout Europe. However, prior to the development of modern techniques, excavations tended to be haphazard; the importance of concepts such as stratification and context were overlooked. In the mid-18th century, the German Johann Joachim Winckelmann lived in Rome and devoted himself to the study of Roman antiquities, gradually acquiring an unrivalled knowledge of ancient art. Then, he visited

1056-401: A clear objective as to what the archaeologists are looking to achieve must be agreed upon. This done, a site is surveyed to find out as much as possible about it and the surrounding area. Second, an excavation may take place to uncover any archaeological features buried under the ground. And, third, the information collected during the excavation is studied and evaluated in an attempt to achieve

1188-912: A critical contributor to the genetic diversity. These migrations involved the influx of different Eurasian populations at different times and to different parts of Africa. Comprehensive characterization of the details of these migrations through genetic studies on existing populations could help to explain the strong genetic differences between some geographically neighbouring populations. This distinctive Eurasian admixture appears to have occurred over at least three time periods with ancient admixture in central west Africa (e.g., Yoruba from Nigeria) occurring between ~7.5 and 10.5 kya, older admixture in east Africa (e.g., Ethiopia) occurring between ~2.4 and 3.2 kya and more recent admixture between ~0.15 and 1.5 kya in some east African (e.g., Kenyan) populations. Subsequent studies based on LD decay and haplotype sharing in an extensive set of African and Eurasian populations confirmed

1320-440: A degree of population continuity in this region for at least 4,500 years. In a comparative analysis of Mota's genome referencing modern populations, Gallego et al. (2016) concluded that the divergence of Omotic from other Afroasiatic languages may have resulted from the relative isolation of its speakers from external groups. In an analysis of 68 Ethiopian ethnic groups, Lopez et al. (2021) revealed that several groups belonging to

1452-451: A field survey. Regional survey is the attempt to systematically locate previously unknown sites in a region. Site survey is the attempt to systematically locate features of interest, such as houses and middens , within a site. Each of these two goals may be accomplished with largely the same methods. Survey was not widely practised in the early days of archaeology. Cultural historians and prior researchers were usually content with discovering

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1584-484: A lack of public interest, and opposition to the excavation of human remains. In Ancient Mesopotamia , a foundation deposit of the Akkadian Empire ruler Naram-Sin (ruled c.  2200 BC ) was discovered and analysed by king Nabonidus , c.  550 BC , who is thus known as the first archaeologist. Not only did he lead the first excavations which were to find the foundation deposits of

1716-528: A large region or site can be expensive, so archaeologists often employ sampling methods.) As with other forms of non-destructive archaeology, survey avoids ethical issues (of particular concern to descendant peoples) associated with destroying a site through excavation. It is the only way to gather some forms of information, such as settlement patterns and settlement structure. Survey data are commonly assembled into maps , which may show surface features and/or artifact distribution. The simplest survey technique

1848-613: A lesser extent in North Africa and West Asia ), most prevalent among the ethnic Somali . This ancestral component dubbed "Ethio-Somali" is most closely related to the "Maghrebi" (peaking in Tunisians ) component and is believed to have diverged from other non-African ancestries around 23,000 years ago, and migrated back to Africa prior to developing agriculture (12–23 ka) from the Near East. This population would have crossed via

1980-415: A mosaic of North African (Taforalt), Middle Eastern, European ( Early European Farmers ), and Sub-Saharan African -related ancestries. Chen et al. (2020) analyzed 2,504 African samples from all over Africa, and found archaic Neanderthal ancestry, among all tested African samples at low frequency. They also identified a European-related (West-Eurasian) ancestry segment, which seems to largely correspond with

2112-518: A population related to present-day Dinka, and ~20% from East African hunter-gatherers, represented by an ancient forager from Mota in Ethiopia. There was no evidence for West African or Bantu -related ancestry in the Pastoral Neolithic individuals, this ancestry only appearing in later samples dating from the Iron Age . The study hypothesised that admixture between a Levantine-related population and

2244-808: A post-Out-of-Africa migration context, mitochondrial macrohaplogroup L3/M/N and its subsequent development into distinct mitochondrial haplogroups (e.g., Haplogroup L3 , Haplogroup M , Haplogroup N ) may have occurred in East Africa at a time that considerably predates the Out-of-Africa migration event of 50,000 BP. The genomes of Africans commonly found to undergo adaptation are regulatory DNA , and many cases of adaptation found among Africans relate to diet , physiology , and evolutionary pressures from pathogens. Neolithic agriculturalists , who may have resided in Northeast Africa and

2376-578: A pre-agricultural back-migration from West-Eurasia into the Horn of Africa with an estimated date of arrival into the Horn of Africa in the early Holocene , possibly as a result of obsidian exchange networks across the Red Sea. Hodgson et al. also confirmed the existence of an ancestral component indigenous to the Horn of Africa - "Ethiopic" or "Omotic" (Pagani et al.) - which is most prevalent among speakers of

2508-480: A precursor to the other agricultural practices that would later independently develop in the Fertile Crescent and the Horn of Africa. While many studies conducted on Horn of Africa populations estimate a West-Eurasian admixture event around 3,000 years ago, Hodgson et al. (2014) found a distinct West-Eurasian ancestral component among studied Afroasiatic-speaking groups in the Horn of Africa (and to

2640-526: A result of admixture between archaic humans and modern humans or may be evidence of late-persisting early modern humans . While Denisovan and Neanderthal ancestry in non-Africans outside of Africa are more certain, archaic human ancestry in Africans is less certain and is too early to be established with certainty. As of 2017, human ancient DNA has not been found in the region of West Africa . As of 2020, human ancient DNA has not been forthcoming in

2772-631: A sample from Kadruka in Upper Nubia, dated to roughly 4000 BP (c. 2000 BC), and found it to be genetically indistinguishable from those of the Pastoral Neolithic, harbouring a similar mix of Levantine-related and East African-related ancestry. The Kadruka individual was from an agro-pastoral population linked with the Kerma culture of Upper Nubia. These findings are consistent with the Kadruka individual representing "a possible genetic source population for

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2904-484: A similar mix of East African and West Eurasian ancestry. A study by Skoglund et al. (2017) similarly found that a Pastoral Neolithic individual from Tanzania, dating from ∼3,100 BP, derived ~38% of her ancestry from Neolithic farmers of the Levant. According to the authors, this result could be explained by "the migration into Africa by descendants of pre-pottery Levantine farmers." A study by Wang et al. (2022) analyzed

3036-579: A site can all be analyzed using the methods of zooarchaeology , paleoethnobotany , palynology and stable isotopes while any texts can usually be deciphered . Genetic history of Africa#Overview The genetic history of Africa summarizes the genetic makeup and population history of African populations in Africa , composed of the overall genetic history , including the regional genetic histories of North Africa , West Africa , East Africa , Central Africa , and Southern Africa , as well as

3168-504: A site excavated depends greatly on the country and "method statement" issued. Sampling is even more important in excavation than in survey. Sometimes large mechanical equipment, such as backhoes ( JCBs ), is used in excavation, especially to remove the topsoil ( overburden ), though this method is increasingly used with great caution. Following this rather dramatic step, the exposed area is usually hand-cleaned with trowels or hoes to ensure that all features are apparent. The next task

3300-414: A site reveals its stratigraphy; if a site was occupied by a succession of distinct cultures, artifacts from more recent cultures will lie above those from more ancient cultures. Excavation is the most expensive phase of archaeological research, in relative terms. Also, as a destructive process, it carries ethical concerns. As a result, very few sites are excavated in their entirety. Again the percentage of

3432-402: A small portion of Eastern African ancestry at 6.8%, which is associated with the modern Omotic-speaking groups found in southern Ethiopia. Khnum-aa , Khnum-Nakht , Nakht-Ankh and JK2911 carried maternal haplogroup M1a1 . Djehutynakht (10A) carried maternal haplogroup U5b2b5 . JK2888 carried maternal haplogroup U6a2 . Thuya , Tiye , Tutankhamen's mother, and Tutankhamen carried

3564-408: A sole source. The material record may be closer to a fair representation of society, though it is subject to its own biases, such as sampling bias and differential preservation. Often, archaeology provides the only means to learn of the existence and behaviors of people of the past. Across the millennia many thousands of cultures and societies and billions of people have come and gone of which there

3696-527: A stone wall, will develop more slowly, while those above other types of features (such as middens ) may develop more rapidly. Photographs of ripening grain , which changes colour rapidly at maturation, have revealed buried structures with great precision. Aerial photographs taken at different times of day will help show the outlines of structures by changes in shadows. Aerial survey also employs ultraviolet , infrared , ground-penetrating radar wavelengths, Lidar and thermography . Geophysical survey can be

3828-487: 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 of the 16th century, including John Leland and William Camden , conducted surveys of the English countryside, drawing, describing and interpreting the monuments that they encountered. The OED first cites "archaeologist" from 1824; this soon took over as

3960-699: A telltale sign for a linguistic geographic origin. A subset of the Proto-Afroasiatic population would have migrated to the Levant during the late Paleolithic , merging with local West-Eurasians and resulting in a population which would later give rise to Natufian culture , associated with the early development of agriculture and early Afroasiatic languages, or specifically pre- proto-Semitic . In addition, Y-haplogroup sub-lineage E-M215 (also known as "E1b1b) and its derivative E-M35 are quite common among Afroasiatic speakers, and southwestern Ethiopia

4092-495: A wide range of influences, including systems theory , neo-evolutionary thought , [35] phenomenology , postmodernism , agency theory , cognitive science , structural functionalism , Marxism , gender-based and feminist archaeology , queer theory , postcolonial thoughts , materiality , and posthumanism . An archaeological investigation usually involves several distinct phases, each of which employs its own variety of methods. Before any practical work can begin, however,

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4224-492: Is a plausible source of these haplogroups. Under this African model, the linguistic group and carriers of this lineage would have arisen and dispersed together from Northeast Africa in the Mesolithic , plausibly having already developed subsistence patterns of pastoralism and intensive plant usage and collection. The Near-Eastern agriculturalist hypothesis does not account for the domestication of plants endemic to

4356-631: Is also believed to have been true for other areas of the world such as India and Peru. Marshall et al (2002) take the tenth millennium BP as that of African cattle domestication. Plant domestication is placed by these researchers as being sometime after 4000 BP. Their point is that the advantage of yield is not, in the African context, a significant driver compared to the risks of aridity and the need to move so as to ensure feed for cattle. These are conclusions based on remains. In studies based on chemical analysis, on-going benefit from Neolithic herding activities

4488-744: Is commonly found among modern Afroasiatic-speaking populations (as well as Nubians ) in Northeast Africa. This Coptic component peaks among Copts in Sudan , which is differentiated by its lack of Arab influence, but shares common ancestry with the North African/Middle Eastern populations. It appears alongside a component that defines Nilo-Saharan speakers of southwestern Sudan and South Sudan . Arauna et al. (2017), analyzing existing genetic data obtained from Northern African populations, such as Berbers , described them as

4620-480: Is consistent with the narrative of communities in movement throughout the Pastoral Neolithic. The introduction of metallurgy around 1200 BP marks the end of the Pastoral Neolithic. The iron -using pastoralists of the Early Iron Age consists populations that descend from Pastoral Neolithic populations, immigrating populations from Northern Africa, and populations from elsewhere. The Pastoral Neolithic period

4752-440: Is detected. It is speculated that the richer grasslands persist because they attract wild grazers as well as herded animals, thereby perpetuating the cycle. Neolithic pastoralists employed various subsistence strategies (e.g., fishing , herding ) and are generally associated with stone tools , ceramics , and burial traditions. The shift from hunting-gathering to herding developed gradually, over thousands of years, during

4884-606: Is distinct from palaeontology , which is the study of fossil remains. Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for which, by definition, there are no written records. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the advent of literacy in societies around the world. Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time. Derived from Greek,

5016-535: Is followed by the Pastoral Iron Age which saw an influx of northern Nilotic peoples , and the later Iron Age migration of Bantu agriculturalists. [1] Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture . The archaeological record consists of artifacts , architecture , biofacts or ecofacts, sites , and cultural landscapes . Archaeology can be considered both

5148-717: Is found among the Malagasy speakers of Madagascar at a medium frequency. The presence of this East Asian-related ancestry is mostly linked to the Austronesian peoples expansion from Southeast Asia . The peoples of Borneo were identified to resemble the East Asian voyagers, who arrived on Madagascar. East Asian ancestry among Malagasy people was estimated at a mean average of 33%, but as high as ~75% among some Highlander groups and upper caste groups. Dobon et al. (2015) identified an autosomal ancestral component that

5280-528: Is found in Northern Africa , and among specific ethnic groups of the Horn of Africa , Northern Sudan , the Sahel region, as well as among the Malagasy people of Madagascar . Various genome studies found evidence for multiple prehistoric back-migrations from various Eurasian populations and subsequent admixture with native groups. West Eurasian-associated geneflow arrived to Northern Africa during

5412-451: Is little or no written record or existing records are misrepresentative or incomplete. Writing as it is known today did not exist in human civilization until the 4th millennium BC, in a relatively small number of technologically advanced civilizations. In contrast, Homo sapiens has existed for at least 200,000 years, and other species of Homo for millions of years (see Human evolution ). These civilizations are, not coincidentally,

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5544-755: Is most strongly drawn out by modern West African groups such as the Yoruba and the Mende . The samples also contain an additional affinity to South, Central, and East African outgroups that cannot be explained by any known ancient or modern populations. When projected onto a principal component analysis graph of African and west Eurasian populations, the Taforalt individuals form a distinct cluster in an intermediate position between modern North Africans (e.g., Berbers , Mozabites , Saharawis ) and East Africans (e.g., Afars , Oromos , Somalis ). Jeong (2020), when comparing

5676-426: Is no one approach to archaeological theory that has been adhered to by all archaeologists. When archaeology developed in the late 19th century, the first approach to archaeological theory to be practised was that of cultural-historical archaeology , which held the goal of explaining why cultures changed and adapted rather than just highlighting the fact that they did, therefore emphasizing historical particularism . In

5808-443: Is not completely known. The faunal record shows that the livestock of Neolithic pastoralists were not domesticated in East Africa, but were introduced into East Africa; faunal remains of wild cattle, sheep, or goats are not found. The fossils of common domesticates are not found at excavated sites in East Africa (e.g., Lake Turkana Basin , Lake Nakuru Basin, Serengeti Plains , Lake Eyasi ), suggesting they were not present during

5940-443: Is reflected or emitted from the observed scene. Passive instruments sense only radiation emitted by the object being viewed or reflected by the object from a source other than the instrument. Active instruments emit energy and record what is reflected. Satellite imagery is an example of passive remote sensing. Here are two active remote sensing instruments: The archaeological project then continues (or alternatively, begins) with

6072-428: Is surface survey. It involves combing an area, usually on foot but sometimes with the use of mechanized transport, to search for features or artifacts visible on the surface. Surface survey cannot detect sites or features that are completely buried under earth, or overgrown with vegetation. Surface survey may also include mini-excavation techniques such as augers , corers, and shovel test pits. If no materials are found,

6204-544: Is through archaeology. Because archaeology is the study of past human activity, it stretches back to about 2.5 million years ago when the first stone tools are found – The Oldowan Industry . Many important developments in human history occurred during prehistory, such as the evolution of humanity during the Paleolithic period, when the hominins developed from the australopithecines in Africa and eventually into modern Homo sapiens . Archaeology also sheds light on many of humanity's technological advances, for instance

6336-431: Is to form a site plan and then use it to help decide the method of excavation. Features dug into the natural subsoil are normally excavated in portions to produce a visible archaeological section for recording. A feature, for example a pit or a ditch, consists of two parts: the cut and the fill . The cut describes the edge of the feature, where the feature meets the natural soil. It is the feature's boundary. The fill

6468-420: Is what the feature is filled with, and will often appear quite distinct from the natural soil. The cut and fill are given consecutive numbers for recording purposes. Scaled plans and sections of individual features are all drawn on site, black and white and colour photographs of them are taken, and recording sheets are filled in describing the context of each. All this information serves as a permanent record of

6600-640: The Afroasiatic languages remains disputed, with some proposing a Middle Eastern origin, while others support an African origin with varying degrees of Eurasian and African components. The Austronesian languages originated in southern East Asia, and later expanded outgoing from the Philippines . The Niger–Congo languages probably originated in or near the area where these languages were spoken prior to Bantu expansion (i.e. West Africa or Central Africa ). Its expansion may have been associated with

6732-607: The Middle Pastoral Period (7000 BP), carried basal maternal haplogroup N . Van de Loorsdrecht et al. (2018) found that of seven samples of Taforalts of Morocco , radiocarbon dated to between 15,100 cal BP and 13,900 cal BP, six were found to carry maternal haplogroup U6a , and one was found to carry maternal haplogroup M1b . All six males were found to carry paternal haplogroup E1b1b , and they harbored 63.5% Natufian -related ancestry and 36.5% Sub-Saharan African -related ancestry. The Sub-Saharan component

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6864-575: The Near East , may have been the source population for lactase persistence variants, including –13910*T, and may have been subsequently supplanted by later migrations of peoples. The Sub-Saharan West African Fulani, the North African Tuareg , and European agriculturalists , who are descendants of these Neolithic agriculturalists, share the lactase persistence variant –13910*T. While shared by Fulani and Tuareg herders, compared to

6996-605: The Neolithic Revolution , towards Northern Africa and the Horn of Africa, outgoing from the Middle East , specifically from the Levant . Others argue that the first speakers of Proto-Afroasiatic were based in Northeast Africa because that region includes the majority of the diversity of the Afroasiatic language family and has very diverse groups in close geographic proximity, which is sometimes considered

7128-602: The Nile Valley and eastern Africa. During the Pastoral Neolithic in eastern Africa (5000 BP - 1200 BP), archaeologists have identified two pastoralist groups who spread through southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania; they co-existed alongside Eburran phase 5 hunter-gatherers; these groups are known as the Savanna Pastoral Neolithic and the Elmenteitan . The Pastoral Neolithic in eastern Africa

7260-523: The Omotic branch of Afroasiatic in southwestern Ethiopia. This lineage is associated with that of a 4,500 year-old fossil (Mota) found in a cave in southwestern Ethiopia, which has high genetic affinity to modern Ethiopian groups , especially the endogamous blacksmith caste of the Omotic Aari people . Like Mota, Aari blacksmiths do not show evidence for admixture with West-Eurasians, demonstrating

7392-523: The Toubou also showed admixture coming from Eurasians. Low levels of West Eurasian ancestry (European or Middle Eastern) are found in Khoe–Kwadi Khoesan-speakers. It could have been acquired indirectly by admixture with migrating pastoralists from East Africa. This hypothesis of gene flow from eastern to southern Africa is further supported by other genetic and archaeological data documenting

7524-430: The recent origin of modern humans in Africa . The Sahara served as a trans-regional passageway and place of dwelling for people in Africa during various humid phases and periods throughout the history of Africa . It also served as a biological barrier that restricted geneflow between the northern and central parts of Africa since its desertification, contributing to the diverse and distinct population structures on

7656-580: The trench method , on several Native American burial mounds in Virginia . His excavations were prompted by the "Moundbuilders" question ; however, his careful methods led him to admit he saw no reason why ancestors of the Native Americans of his time could not have raised those mounds. One of the major achievements of 19th-century archaeology was the development of stratigraphy . The idea of overlapping strata tracing back to successive periods

7788-559: The 1870s. These scholars individuated nine different cities that had overlapped with one another, from prehistory to the Hellenistic period . Meanwhile, the work of Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos in Crete revealed the ancient existence of an equally advanced Minoan civilization . The next major figure in the development of archaeology was Sir Mortimer Wheeler , whose highly disciplined approach to excavation and systematic coverage in

7920-642: The 1920s and 1930s brought the science on swiftly. Wheeler developed the grid system of excavation , which was further improved by his student Kathleen Kenyon . Archaeology became a professional activity in the first half of the 20th century, and it became possible to study archaeology as a subject in universities and even schools. By the end of the 20th century nearly all professional archaeologists, at least in developed countries, were graduates. Further adaptation and innovation in archaeology continued in this period, when maritime archaeology and urban archaeology became more prevalent and rescue archaeology

8052-515: The African continent, as well as later admixture events, including back-migrations from Eurasia, of both highly differentiated West and East Eurasian components. Africans' genetic ancestry is largely partitioned by geography and language family , with populations belonging to the same ethno-linguistic groupings showing high genetic homogeneity and coherence. Gene flow, consistent with both short- and long-range migration events followed by extensive admixture and bottleneck events , have influenced

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8184-526: The DNA of West African populations may have come from an unknown archaic hominin which split from the ancestor of humans and Neanderthals between 360 kya to 1.02 mya. However, Durvasula et al. (2020) also suggests that at least part of this archaic admixture is also present in Eurasians/non-Africans, and that the admixture event or events range from 0 to 124 ka B.P, which includes the period before

8316-410: The Horn of Africa such as teff , ensete , and Niger seed , nor does it account for the lack of evidence of intrusive agricultural populations or for the growing of wheat , barley , or sorghum in that region prior to 3000 B.C. According to historian and linguist Christopher Ehret , the form of intensive plant collection practiced by the Proto-Afroasiatic population in Northeast Africa may have been

8448-489: The Horn of Africa) to Southeast Africa and Southern Africa . Ramsay et al. (2018) also found evidence for significant Western Eurasian admixture in various parts of Africa, from both ancient and more recent migrations, being highest among populations from Northern Africa , and some groups of the Horn of Africa : In addition to the intrinsic diversity within the continent due to population structure and isolation, migration of Eurasian populations into Africa has emerged as

8580-529: The Middle East. The analysis of 40 different West-Eurasian populations found African admixture at a frequency of 0% to up to ~15%. Hollfelder et al. (2021) concluded that West African Yoruba people , which were previously used as "unadmixed reference population" for indigenous Africans, harbor minor levels of Neanderthal ancestry, which can be largely associated with back-migration of an "Ancestral European-like" source population. A genome-wide study of

8712-634: The Out-of-Africa migration and prior to the African/Eurasian split (thus affecting in part the common ancestors of both Africans and Eurasians/non-Africans). Chen et al. (2020) found that Africans have higher Neanderthal ancestry than previously thought. 2,504 African samples from all over Africa were analyzed and tested on Neanderthal ancestry. All African samples showed evidence for minor Neanderthal ancestry, but always at lower levels than observed in Eurasians. Significant Eurasian admixture

8844-751: The Paleolithic (30,000 to 15,000 years ago), followed by other pre-Neolithic and Neolithic migration events. Genetic data on the Taforalt samples "demonstrated that Northern Africa received significant amounts of gene-flow from Eurasia predating the Holocene and development of farming practices". Medieval geneflow events, such as the Arab expansion also left traces in various African populations. Pickrell et al. (2014) indicated that Western Eurasian ancestry eventually arrived through Northeast Africa (particularly

8976-414: The Pastoral Neolithic is not completely understood. The pottery and stone tools found near Lake Turkana supports that migrants from Ethiopia and Sudan traveled south in small bursts and introduced pastoralism. A considerable amount of evidence supports the case of there being two major expansions (associated with the spread of Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages) in eastern Africa which transformed

9108-565: The Pastoral Neolithic period. Genetic evidence shows that lactase persistence developed in East African populations between 7000 BP and 3000 BP, which is consistent with existing evidence for the introduction of livestock. According to genomic data from 2019, the herders moved into Eastern African around 5,000 BP, and they carried both ancestry from the Near-East and Sudan. The exact way in which pastoralism reached East Africa during

9240-656: The Pastoral Neolithic. The Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa is one of a few in world history where herding significantly preceded agricultural food production. The major transition from predominantly hunter-gatherer economies to predominantly herding economies may have occurred around 3000 BP. There are limited remains of domesticated animals at sites that predate 3000 BP. For example, at the Enkapune Ya Muto rock shelter site of central Kenya, among evidence of mostly wild fauna, there are few caprine (goat/sheep) teeth dated to around 4400 BP. The length of time between

9372-778: The Sinai Peninsula and then split into two, with one branch continuing west across North Africa and the other heading south into the Horn of Africa. The authors propose that the "Ethio-Somali" component may have been a substantial ancestral component of the Proto-Afroasiatic-speaking population. Later migration from Arabia into the HOA beginning around 3 ka would explain the origin of the Ethiosemitic languages at this time. An mtDNA analysis by Gandini et al. (2016) has produced additional evidence in support of

9504-505: The Song period, were revived in the 17th century during the Qing dynasty , but were always considered a branch of Chinese historiography rather than a separate discipline of archaeology. In Renaissance Europe , philosophical interest in the remains of Greco - Roman civilization and the rediscovery of classical culture began in the late Middle Ages , with humanism . Cyriacus of Ancona

9636-676: The Spanish military engineer Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre in the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum , both of which had been covered by ash during the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 . These excavations began in 1748 in Pompeii, while in Herculaneum they began in 1738. The discovery of entire towns, complete with utensils and even human shapes, as well the unearthing of frescos , had

9768-656: The Taforalt people of the Iberomaurusian culture to modern populations, found that the Taforalt's Sub-Saharan African genetic component may be best represented by modern West Africans (e.g., Yoruba). Amid the Holocene , including the Holocene Climate Optimum in 8000 BP, Africans bearing haplogroup L2 spread within West Africa and Africans bearing haplogroup L3 spread within East Africa. As

9900-761: The Tuareg variant, the Fulani variant of –13910*T has undergone a longer period of haplotype differentiation. The Fulani lactase persistence variant –13910*T may have spread, along with cattle pastoralism , between 9686 BP and 7534 BP, possibly around 8500 BP; corroborating this timeframe for the Fulani, by at least 7500 BP, there is evidence of herders engaging in the act of milking in the Central Sahara . Archaic traits found in human fossils of West Africa (e.g., Iho Eleru fossils , which dates to 13,000 BP) and Central Africa (e.g., Ishango fossils, which dates between 25,000 BP and 20,000 BP) may have developed as

10032-767: The UK, metal detectorists have been solicited for involvement in the Portable Antiquities Scheme . Regional survey in underwater archaeology uses geophysical or remote sensing devices such as marine magnetometer, side-scan sonar , or sub-bottom sonar. Archaeological excavation existed even when the field was still the domain of amateurs, and it remains the source of the majority of data recovered in most field projects. It can reveal several types of information usually not accessible to survey, such as stratigraphy , three-dimensional structure, and verifiably primary context. Modern excavation techniques require that

10164-426: The ability to use fire, the development of stone tools , the discovery of metallurgy , the beginnings of religion and the creation of agriculture . Without archaeology, little or nothing would be known about the use of material culture by humanity that pre-dates writing. However, it is not only prehistoric, pre-literate cultures that can be studied using archaeology but historic, literate cultures as well, through

10296-408: The archaeological excavations being conducted at Pompeii and Herculaneum . He was one of the founders of scientific archaeology and first applied the categories of style on a large, systematic basis to the history of art He was one of the first to separate Greek art into periods and time classifications. Winckelmann has been called both "The prophet and founding hero of modern archaeology " and

10428-434: The area surveyed is deemed sterile . Aerial survey is conducted using cameras attached to airplanes , balloons , UAVs , or even Kites . A bird's-eye view is useful for quick mapping of large or complex sites. Aerial photographs are used to document the status of the archaeological dig. Aerial imaging can also detect many things not visible from the surface. Plants growing above a buried human-made structure, such as

10560-560: The artifacts they had found in chronological order. A major figure in the development of archaeology into a rigorous science was army officer and ethnologist Augustus Pitt Rivers , who began excavations on his land in England in the 1880s. Highly methodical by the standards of the time, he is widely regarded as the first scientific archaeologist. He arranged his artifacts by type or " Typology (archaeology) ", and within types chronologically. This style of arrangement, designed to highlight

10692-563: The best-known; they are open to the inquiry of historians for centuries, while the study of pre-historic cultures has arisen only recently. Within a literate civilization many events and important human practices may not be officially recorded. Any knowledge of the early years of human civilization – the development of agriculture, cult practices of folk religion, the rise of the first cities – must come from archaeology. In addition to their scientific importance, archaeological remains sometimes have political or cultural significance to descendants of

10824-471: The continent. Nonetheless, this did not stop contact between peoples north and south of the Sahara at various points, especially in prehistoric times when the climate conditions were warmer and wetter. The peoples of Africa are characterized by regional genetic substructure and heterogeneity, depending on the respective ethno-linguistic identity, and, in part, explainable by the "multiregional evolution" of modern human lineages in various multiple regions of

10956-403: The detected Neanderthal ancestry components. European-related admixture among Africans was estimated to be between ~0% to up to ~30%, with a peak among Northern Africans. According to Chen et al. (2020), "These data are consistent with the hypothesis that back-migration contributed to the signal of Neanderthal ancestry in Africans. Furthermore, the data indicates that this back-migration came after

11088-566: The earliest eastern African pastoralists who settled in the Rift Valley.” The authors of the study suggest that the Pastoral Neolithic likely arose through a rapid migration from the Nile Valley, without significant admixture with the indigenous foragers of East Africa as was previously thought. In Southern Africa it is also argued that plant cultivation took place considerably later than the domestication of cattle and other animals. This

11220-473: The early 20th century, many archaeologists who studied past societies with direct continuing links to existing ones (such as those of Native Americans , Siberians , Mesoamericans etc.) followed the direct historical approach , compared the continuity between the past and contemporary ethnic and cultural groups. In the 1960s, an archaeological movement largely led by American archaeologists like Lewis Binford and Kent Flannery arose that rebelled against

11352-643: The empirical evidence that existed for the understanding of the past, encapsulated in the motto of the 18th century antiquary, Sir Richard Colt Hoare : "We speak from facts, not theory". Tentative steps towards the systematization of archaeology as a science took place during the Enlightenment period in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. In Imperial China during the Song dynasty (960–1279), figures such as Ouyang Xiu and Zhao Mingcheng established

11484-644: The established cultural-history archaeology. They proposed a "New Archaeology", which would be more "scientific" and "anthropological", with hypothesis testing and the scientific method very important parts of what became known as processual archaeology . In the 1980s, a new postmodern movement arose led by the British archaeologists Michael Shanks , Christopher Tilley , Daniel Miller , and Ian Hodder , which has become known as post-processual archaeology . It questioned processualism's appeals to scientific positivism and impartiality, and emphasized

11616-633: The evolutionary trends in human artifacts, was of enormous significance for the accurate dating of the objects. His most important methodological innovation was his insistence that all artifacts, not just beautiful or unique ones, be collected and catalogued. William Flinders Petrie is another man who may legitimately be called the Father of Archaeology. His painstaking recording and study of artifacts, both in Egypt and later in Palestine , laid down many of

11748-504: The expansion of agriculture, in the African Neolithic period, following the desiccation of the Sahara in c. 3500 BCE. Proto-Niger-Congo may have originated about 10,000 years before present in the " Green Sahara " of Africa (roughly the Sahel and southern Sahara ), and that its dispersal can be correlated with the spread of the bow and arrow by migrating hunter-gatherers , which later developed agriculture. Although

11880-538: The father of the discipline of art history . The father of archaeological excavation was William Cunnington (1754–1810). He undertook excavations in Wiltshire from around 1798, funded by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Cunnington made meticulous recordings of Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows , and the terms he used to categorize and describe them are still used by archaeologists today. Future U.S. President Thomas Jefferson also did his own excavations in 1784 using

12012-765: The fifteenth century, and the general accuracy of his records entitles him to be called the founding father of modern classical archeology." He traveled throughout Greece and all around the Eastern Mediterranean, to record his findings on ancient buildings, statues and inscriptions, including archaeological remains still unknown to his time: the Parthenon , Delphi , the Egyptian pyramids , the hieroglyphics . He noted down his archaeological discoveries in his diary, Commentaria (in six volumes). Flavio Biondo , an Italian Renaissance humanist historian, created

12144-528: The first history books of India. One of the first sites to undergo archaeological excavation was Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments in England. John Aubrey (1626–1697) was a pioneer archaeologist who recorded numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England. He was also ahead of his time in the analysis of his findings. He attempted to chart the chronological stylistic evolution of handwriting, medieval architecture, costume, and shield-shapes. Excavations were also carried out by

12276-714: The food systems of the region. A study by Prendergast et al. (2019) analysed genome-wide DNA data from 31 Pastoral Neolithic individuals from sites in Kenya and Tanzania. The study found that these early pastoralists harboured ancestry from three distinct ancient populations, related to: (1) modern groups from northern Africa and the Levant , (2) contemporary Nilotic speakers such as the Dinka or Nuer, and (3) hunter-gatherers from East Africa. The Pastoral Neolithic individuals were modelled as deriving ~40% of their ancestry from Chalcolithic Levantines (sampled by Harney et al. 2018), ~40% from

12408-475: The ideas behind modern archaeological recording; he remarked that "I believe the true line of research lies in the noting and comparison of the smallest details." Petrie developed the system of dating layers based on pottery and ceramic findings , which revolutionized the chronological basis of Egyptology . Petrie was the first to scientifically investigate the Great Pyramid in Egypt during the 1880s. He

12540-472: The importance of a more self-critical theoretical reflexivity . However, this approach has been criticized by processualists as lacking scientific rigor, and the validity of both processualism and post-processualism is still under debate. Meanwhile, another theory, known as historical processualism , has emerged seeking to incorporate a focus on process and post-processual archaeology's emphasis of reflexivity and history. Archaeological theory now borrows from

12672-682: The initial introduction of domesticates and their full adoption is thought to have occurred between the cultural separation of immigrant populations and indigenous populations in the region. Additionally, paleoclimatic evidence from Lake Naivasha , Kenya suggests that rain patterns may not have been favorable for dairy pastoralism until around 3000 BP. After 3000 BP, the majority of fauna found at Pastoral Neolithic sites are from domesticated animals rather than undomesticated animals. By this time, many communities were exclusively stock-keeping and herding. As compared to stone use associated with agriculture, archeological reports of stone use provide insight into

12804-520: The introduction of imported livestock, African pastoralists kept domestic livestock but did not keep the lifestyles characteristic of modern pastoralists; this is shown by the lack of bones from domesticated animals and an abundance of bones from undomesticated animals at early Pastoral Neolithic sites. These preliminary herding cultures are characteristic of the Pastoral Neolithic and generally lack stationary agricultural practices and metal use. The exact introductory timeline of pastoralism to eastern Africa

12936-458: The largest migration since the Out of Africa migration , migration from Sub-Saharan Africa toward the North Africa occurred, by West Africans, Central Africans, and East Africans, resulting in migrations into Europe and Asia ; consequently, Sub-Saharan African mitochondrial DNA was introduced into Europe and Asia. During the early period of the Holocene , 50% of Sub-Saharan African mitochondrial DNA

13068-444: The lives and interests of the populace. Writings that were produced by people more representative of the general population were unlikely to find their way into libraries and be preserved there for posterity. Thus, written records tend to reflect the biases, assumptions, cultural values and possibly deceptions of a limited range of individuals, usually a small fraction of the larger population. Hence, written records cannot be trusted as

13200-671: The locations of monumental sites from the local populace, and excavating only the plainly visible features there. Gordon Willey pioneered the technique of regional settlement pattern survey in 1949 in the Viru Valley of coastal Peru , and survey of all levels became prominent with the rise of processual archaeology some years later. Survey work has many benefits if performed as a preliminary exercise to, or even in place of, excavation. It requires relatively little time and expense, because it does not require processing large volumes of soil to search out artifacts. (Nevertheless, surveying

13332-706: The maternal haplogroup K . JK2134 carried maternal haplogroup J1d and JK2887 carried maternal haplogroup J2a1a1 . Amenhotep III , Akhenaten , and Tutankhamen carried the paternal haplogroup R1b . Ramesses III and "Unknown Man E", possibly Pentawere , carried paternal haplogroup E1b1a . JK2134 and JK2911 carried paternal haplogroup J . Takabuti carried maternal haplogroup H4a1 and YM:KMM A 63 carried maternal haplogroup HV . OM:KMM A 64 carried maternal haplogroup T2c1a . JK2888 carried paternal haplogroup E1b1b1a1b2 . At Takarkori rockshelter, in Libya , two naturally mummified women, dated to

13464-724: The most effective way to see beneath the ground. Magnetometers detect minute deviations in the Earth's magnetic field caused by iron artifacts, kilns , some types of stone structures , and even ditches and middens. Devices that measure the electrical resistivity of the soil are also widely used. Archaeological features whose electrical resistivity contrasts with that of surrounding soils can be detected and mapped. Some archaeological features (such as those composed of stone or brick) have higher resistivity than typical soils, while others (such as organic deposits or unfired clay) tend to have lower resistivity. Although some archaeologists consider

13596-443: The now-destroyed archaeology and is used in describing and interpreting the site. Once artifacts and structures have been excavated, or collected from surface surveys, it is necessary to properly study them. This process is known as post-excavation analysis , and is usually the most time-consuming part of an archaeological investigation. It is not uncommon for final excavation reports for major sites to take years to be published. At

13728-529: The original research objectives of the archaeologists. It is then considered good practice for the information to be published so that it is available to other archaeologists and historians, although this is sometimes neglected. Before actually starting to dig in a location, remote sensing can be used to look where sites are located within a large area or provide more information about sites or regions. There are two types of remote sensing instruments—passive and active. Passive instruments detect natural energy that

13860-413: The past. Since its early development, various specific sub-disciplines of archaeology have developed, including maritime archaeology , feminist archaeology , and archaeoastronomy , and numerous different scientific techniques have been developed to aid archaeological investigation. Nonetheless, today, archaeologists face many problems, such as dealing with pseudoarchaeology , the looting of artifacts,

13992-698: The people who produced them, monetary value to collectors, or strong aesthetic appeal. Many people identify archaeology with the recovery of such aesthetic, religious, political, or economic treasures rather than with the reconstruction of past societies. This view is often espoused in works of popular fiction, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Mummy, and King Solomon's Mines. When unrealistic subjects are treated more seriously, accusations of pseudoscience are invariably levelled at their proponents (see Pseudoarchaeology ) . However, these endeavours, real and fictional, are not representative of modern archaeology. There

14124-550: The precise locations of objects and features, known as their provenance or provenience, be recorded. This always involves determining their horizontal locations, and sometimes vertical position as well (also see Primary Laws of Archaeology ). Likewise, their association , or relationship with nearby objects and features , needs to be recorded for later analysis. This allows the archaeologist to deduce which artifacts and features were likely used together and which may be from different phases of activity. For example, excavation of

14256-588: The presence of Eurasian signatures in west, east and southern Africans. In the west, in addition to Niger-Congo speakers from The Gambia and Mali, the Mossi from Burkina Faso showed the oldest Eurasian admixture event ~7 kya. In the east, these analyses inferred Eurasian admixture within the last 4000 years in Kenya. There is no definitive agreement on when or where the original homeland of the Afroasiatic language family existed. Some have suggested that they were spread by people with largely West-Eurasian ancestry during

14388-608: The purpose of grinding show high plant food processing as well as for the purpose of bone marrow pounding and grease extractions. These stone tools found at Luxmanda, Tanzania challenge established ideas about travel patterns and food systems during the Pastoral Neolithic. Archeological evidence from the Lake Turkana region shows that Nderit and Ileret pottery emerged in the region between 4500 BP and 4200 BP. The introduction of these distinct decorated and shaped forms of pottery are associated with sheep and cattle domestication in

14520-567: The region. Excavations of cemeteries and burial sites of communities during the Pastoral Neolithic provide insight into the traditions and social structures associated with the Pastoral Neolithic. The Lothagam North Pillar Site is a communal cemetery in the Lake Turkana region where the earliest Pastoral Neolithic sites are found. The Lothagam North Pillar Site consists of a large cavity constructed with large rocks, estimated to hold at least 580 individuals. The demographics of those buried are diverse in age, sex, and predicted social class. This site

14652-449: The regional genetic makeup and demographic structure of Africans. The historical Bantu expansion had lasting impacts on the modern demographic make up of Africa, resulting in a greater genetic and linguistic homogenization. Genetic, archeologic, and linguistic studies added extra insight into this movement: "Our results reveal a genetic continuum of Niger–Congo speaker populations across the continent and extend our current understanding of

14784-622: The routes, timing and extent of the Bantu migration." Overall, different African populations display genetic diversity and substructure, but can be clustered in distinct but partially overlapping groupings: The term ' indigenous Africans ' refers to the populations with primarily indigenous (non-Eurasian) ancestries, consisting of Niger–Congo speakers , Nilo-Saharan speakers , the divergent and diverse Khoisan grouping , as well as of several unclassified or isolated ethnolinguistic groupings (see unclassified languages of Africa ). The origin of

14916-461: The split of Europeans and East Asians, from a population related to the European lineage." There is a minor geneflow from North Africa in parts of Southern Europe , this is supported by the presence of an African-specific mitochondrial haplogroup among one of four 4,000 year old samples. Multiple studies found also evidence for geneflow of African ancestry towards Eurasia, specifically Europe and

15048-480: The spread of pastoralism from East to South Africa. While Denisovan and Neanderthal ancestry in non-Africans outside of Africa are more certain, archaic human ancestry in Africans is less certain and is too early to be established with certainty. Daniel Shriner (2018), using modern populations as a reference, showed that the Natufians carried 61.2% Arabian, 21.2% Northern African, 10.9% Western Asian, and

15180-475: The sub-discipline of historical archaeology . For many literate cultures, such as Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia , their surviving records are often incomplete and biased to some extent. In many societies, literacy was restricted to the elite classes, such as the clergy , or the bureaucracy of court or temple. The literacy of aristocrats has sometimes been restricted to deeds and contracts. The interests and world-view of elites are often quite different from

15312-611: The technological development and use during the Pastoral Neolithic. The major 20th century archeological study of Stone Bowl cultures conducted by Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey uncovered a considerable amount of evidence about food systems during the Pastoral Neolithic. The archeological site at Luxmanda, Tanzania is estimated to have been occupied initially around 3000 BP, thereby, establishing it as Africa's southernmost Pastoral Neolithic site to date. The size of stone tools found at Luxmanda establishes that Pastoral Neolithic establishments may not have been mobile. Stones were used for

15444-519: The temples of Šamaš the sun god, the warrior goddess Anunitu (both located in Sippar ), and the sanctuary that Naram-Sin built to the moon god, located in Harran , but he also had them restored to their former glory. He was also the first to date an archaeological artifact in his attempt to date Naram-Sin's temple during his search for it. Even though his estimate was inaccurate by about 1,500 years, it

15576-476: The term archaeology means "the study of ancient history". The discipline involves surveying , excavation , and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Archaeology developed out of antiquarianism in Europe during the 19th century, and has since become a discipline practiced around the world. Archaeology has been used by nation-states to create particular visions of

15708-530: The three AA classifications of Cushitic, Omotic and Semitic show high genetic similarity to each other on average. Furthermore, the Nilo-Saharan speakers in the southwest shared more recent ancestry with Bantu and Nilotics, in contrast Afro-Asiatic speakers in the northeast shared more recent ancestry with Egyptians and other West Eurasians. The data also supported widespread recent intermixing among various ethnic groups. Specific East Asian-related ancestry

15840-559: The tradition of Chinese epigraphy by investigating, preserving, and analyzing ancient Chinese bronze inscriptions from the Shang and Zhou periods. In his book published in 1088, Shen Kuo criticized contemporary Chinese scholars for attributing ancient bronze vessels as creations of famous sages rather than artisan commoners, and for attempting to revive them for ritual use without discerning their original functionality and purpose of manufacture. Such antiquarian pursuits waned after

15972-434: The transition into the Pastoral Neolithic. Limited cave painting evidence from Mt. Elgon , Kenya is consistent with the presence of northern African breeds of cattle during the Pastoral Neolithic. These domesticated animals can be estimated to have arrived in northern Africa around 8000 BP and to have reached Eastern Africa by 5000 BP. The import of different breeds of cattle occurred on multiple different occasions throughout

16104-576: The use of metal detectors to be tantamount to treasure hunting, others deem them an effective tool in archaeological surveying. Examples of formal archaeological use of metal detectors include musketball distribution analysis on English Civil War battlefields, metal distribution analysis prior to excavation of a 19th-century ship wreck, and service cable location during evaluation. Metal detectorists have also contributed to archaeology where they have made detailed records of their results and refrained from raising artifacts from their archaeological context. In

16236-472: The usual term for one major branch of antiquarian activity. "Archaeology", from 1607 onward, initially meant what we would call "ancient history" generally, with the narrower modern sense first seen in 1837. However, it was Jacob Spon who, in 1685, offered one of the earliest definitions of "archaeologia" to describe the study of antiquities in which he was engaged, in the preface of a collection of transcriptions of Roman inscriptions which he had gleaned over

16368-760: The validity of the Nilo-Saharan family remains controversial, the region between Chad , Sudan , and the Central African Republic is seen as a likely candidate for its homeland prior to its dispersal around 10,000–8,000 BCE. The Southern African hunter-gatherers (Khoisan) are suggested to represent the autochthonous hunter-gatherer population of southern Africa, prior to the expansion of Bantu-speakers from Western/Central Africa and East African pastoralists. Khoisan show evidence for Bantu-related admixture, ranging from nearly ~0% to up to ~87.1%. The " recent African origin of modern humans " proposes

16500-412: The years of his travels, entitled Miscellanea eruditae antiquitatis. Twelfth-century Indian scholar Kalhana 's writings involved recording of local traditions, examining manuscripts, inscriptions, coins and architectures, which is described as one of the earliest traces of archaeology. One of his notable work is called Rajatarangini which was completed in c.  1150 and is described as one of

16632-525: Was a restlessly itinerant Italian humanist and antiquarian who came from a prominent family of merchants in Ancona , a maritime republic on the Adriatic . He was called by his contemporaries pater antiquitatis ('father of antiquity') and today "father of classical archaeology": "Cyriac of Ancona was the most enterprising and prolific recorder of Greek and Roman antiquities, particularly inscriptions, in

16764-421: Was also responsible for mentoring and training a whole generation of Egyptologists, including Howard Carter who went on to achieve fame with the discovery of the tomb of 14th-century BC pharaoh Tutankhamun . The first stratigraphic excavation to reach wide popularity with public was that of Hissarlik , on the site of ancient Troy , carried out by Heinrich Schliemann , Frank Calvert and Wilhelm Dörpfeld in

16896-423: Was borrowed from the new geological and paleontological work of scholars like William Smith , James Hutton and Charles Lyell . The systematic application of stratigraphy to archaeology first took place with the excavations of prehistorical and Bronze Age sites. In the third and fourth decades of the 19th century, archaeologists like Jacques Boucher de Perthes and Christian Jürgensen Thomsen began to put

17028-421: Was developed as a result of increasing commercial development. The purpose of archaeology is to learn more about past societies and the development of the human race . Over 99% of the development of humanity has occurred within prehistoric cultures, who did not make use of writing , thereby no written records exist for study purposes. Without such written sources, the only way to understand prehistoric societies

17160-695: Was followed by the Pastoral Iron Age approximately two thousand years ago, during which agriculture , iron technology , and Bantu speakers spread into the region. The beginning of the Pastoral Neolithic follows the Late Stone Age around 5000 BP. The earliest instances of food production in East Africa are found in Kenya and Tanzania . The earliest Pastoral Neolithic sites are in the Lake Turkana region from around 5000 BP. Predating

17292-505: Was introduced into North Africa by West Africans and the other 50% was introduced by East Africans . During the modern period, a greater number of West Africans introduced Sub-Saharan African mitochondrial DNA into North Africa than East Africans. Mitochondrial haplogroups L3, M, and N are found among Sudanese peoples (e.g., Beja , Nilotics , Nuba , Nubians ), who have no known interaction (e.g., history of migration/admixture) with Europeans or Asians; rather than having developed in

17424-464: Was still a very good one considering the lack of accurate dating technology at the time. The science of archaeology (from Greek ἀρχαιολογία , archaiologia from ἀρχαῖος , arkhaios , "ancient" and -λογία , -logia , " -logy ") grew out of the older multi-disciplinary study known as antiquarianism . Antiquarians studied history with particular attention to ancient artifacts and manuscripts, as well as historical sites. Antiquarianism focused on

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