Difference Between History and Archaeology

History vs Archaeology

Man has always been interested in past events as they help him in understanding the evolution of civilization. Study of the past is also considered important as the information and facts about our ancestors provides us with perspectives to myriad problems that we are facing today as also the causes of rise and downfall of civilizations. There are two deeply interrelated fields of study called history and archeology that confuse many. Both a historian as well as an archeologist tries to understand and reveal the past to us in different ways. But there are differences in approach and style which will be discussed in this article.

History

History is interpretation of the past in the words of a historian. It is a scholarly study of what happened in the past without being judgmental or subjective. The main job of a historian is to record the information and facts based upon narratives of the past and recollect the entire sequence of events without getting biased. History starts from the time when writing was invented and people started to keep records of events occurring at that time. Events belonging to a period before history are termed as prehistory and include events and people that are beyond the scope of history as it cannot be verified. History includes authentic information about the past as and when it happened (and also why).

Archeology

Archeology is a field of study that tries to unearth (literally) information about the past by digging up artifacts and analyzing them to recollect sequence of events of that time. In this sense it is close to history though archeological findings can never be as authentic as fact contained in history as they are based upon narratives written by the people from the past whereas there is no such evidence in support of archeological artifacts and archeologists often try to string together loose ends on the basis of their experience.

What is the difference between History and Archaeology?

Ancient civilizations that do not even find a mention in history are recollected with the help of artifacts and fossils that are dug up in any archeological survey. Archeology is a search whereas history is a recollection of the past on the basis of narratives written by people of the past. This is one big difference that separates history from archeology though both attempt to unravel the past for us. Archeology is also history in the sense that archeologists try to surmise about what must have happened in the past basing their conclusions upon artifacts they dig up. This is intelligent guesswork but history is all facts and information that is already there and just needs to be written in a new perspective and style.

In brief: History vs Archaeology • Archeology ends where history begins • Archeology is the study of events, people, their behavior and their lifestyles from a period when writing had not been invented and all information is deducted on the basis of artifacts that are dug up. • History is merely rewriting events of the past with the help of narratives written by people of the past.