ARCHAEOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY—EXPLORING HISTORY WITH CHEMISTRY - Chemistry: Notable Research and Discoveries - page 165

resolve long-standing mysteries. But this knowledge may also have
a great deal of practical value. As the philosopher George Santayana
(1863-1952) noted in 1905, “Th ose who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it.” Ancient civilizations such as Rome rose to
greatness and later collapsed, which makes historians ponder how and
why these people were so successful, yet ran into problems they either
did not recognize or failed to solve.
Modern society is also facing obstacles such as pollution, scarcity of
resources, global climate change, and others. Some of these problems
are diffi cult to understand and may require a response that is not easy
to implement. An understanding of past errors may give people of to-
day vital clues to avoid similar collapses and catastrophes. Th is chapter
examines the methods that chemists and archaeologists are developing
to learn how people of long ago lived and died.
InTroduCTIon
Archaeology is the study of the remains of past human life and cul-
ture. h e term archaeology comes from Greek words meaning ancient
knowledge, and archaeologists oft en study people and societies that
thrived long ago and left little or no written record—such people left no
history written by their own hand. Yet even in cases where some written
records survive, archaeologists also learn much by studying the tools,
structures, utensils, weapons, and biological materials of these people.
One of the chief tools of an archaeologist is the shovel, or some
other means of digging. Soil covers most artifacts over time, so objects
of the past, even if they were used and left on the surface, eventually get
buried. Finding these artifacts can be diffi cult. In some cases, such as
mounds of earth built by Native Americans, there are changes on the
surface that indicate an important archaeological site. (A number of
Native American cultures constructed mounds, sometimes for burial
but also for a variety of other purposes.) But oft en all visible traces are
destroyed by weather, or covered by dirt and the activity of subsequent
inhabitants.
Many archaeological sites are discovered by accident. Rome, for ex-
ample, is a city in Italy that has been occupied for nearly 3,000 years. Th is
city was the cultural and political center of the Romans, a people whose