Abstract
This paper traces the development of modern archeology, showing the influences that caused man to become interested in the past. The interest taken in monuments and relics of the past is shown in a cultural context, with the author citing the outlooks of different groups at various points in history. The author also describes when archeology became a science as opposed to an opportunity to profit financially with items pilfered from ancient sites. Charles Darwin's view on archeology is highlighted in the paper. The paper concludes by crediting the discovery of major ancient sites in the 19th century as the springboard for the modern science of archeology.

From the Paper
"To understand how archeology became a modern discipline, it is important to remember that while today, an interest in the past is taken for granted, after the end of the Roman Empire it was the present and the future that was of interest, either in Christian terms in the sense that the Second Coming was at hand but also the difficulties for many peasants of simply surviving to the next day. Past, dead civilizations were despised as heretical or irrelevant. According to scholar Brian Fagan "One of the most popular hobbies in America today is collecting Indian arrowheads. But this is a new interest, new at least when considered in terms of the centuries. For hundreds of years Europeans seem to have been oblivious even to the existence of such things. Millions of people must have seen stone axes, spear points, and arrowheads in plowed fields and dried-up stream beds or on eroded hillsides, but they did not notice them. To them such things were just so many more rocks" "

Tags:Enlightenment, Mesopotamia, Charles Darwin, Troy, Knossos

Abstract
This paper examines how archeology has served nationalistic goals, particularly when excavations reinforce the desires of a country or government. Two case studies are cited, which according to the paper demonstrate the power of nationalism, particularly when the remains of the past serve as weapons for elevating and protecting a nation's heritage. First, the paper examines archeological projects in the Republic of Ireland, implying that better funding is given to projects that focus on the post-Christian epoch rather earlier cultures, such as the Vikings. Then, the paper points to the government of Israel as focusing only on Jewish or Biblical excavation projects rather than those geared toward the more recent Palestinian presence in the Holy Land. The paper concludes with political statements against the Israeli government regarding the country's Palestinian population.

From the Paper
"Located on a terrace at the edge of cultivated land which overlooks the estuary of the River Deben in Suffolk, England, Sutton Hoo is believed to be the principle burial site of Anglo-Saxon kings dating back to the 7th century A.D. In 1939, a remarkable discovery was made at this site, then owned by Mrs. E.M. Pretty who "entrusted the archeological work to the Ipswich Museum and to famed archeologist Basil Brown" (Rahtz, 1998, p. 175), the man responsible for uncovering the remains of a Viking ship of which only corroded clench nails, soil discoloration and textural differences in the surrounding sand remained. But Brown then realized that this was no ordinary ship, for he concluded that it was a burial-ship which somehow had managed not to be robbed of its treasures in antiquity. This burial site turned out to be immensely important, for the remains of the ship held gold, silver and other Viking treasure; amazingly, Mrs. Pretty decided to bequest to Great Britain all that had been found at the site, one of the largest gifts of its kind ever given to a sovereign nation."

Tags:Jerusalem, Dublin, nationalism, Tara, City of David, Middle East

Abstract
This paper examines how the prehistoric human background of Europe began tens of thousands of years ago in the latter part of the Stone Age. It looks at how ancient man, beginning roughly during the Upper Paleolithic Period, circa 32,000 B.C.E., evolved from a primitive and animal-like being into one that could construct and use tools, build shelters and create early forms of societal structures that eventually led to the rise of towns and cities along the rivers and coastlines of ancient Europe.

From the Paper
"The Stone Age is usually divided into the Paleolithic ("Old Stone") and Neolithic "New Stone") Ages; the end of the Paleolithic and the beginning of the Neolithic is thus placed about ten to twelve thousand years ago. During the long Paleolithic Period, human beings roamed throughout Europe, searching for food as hunter-gatherers, and often migrated great distances in order to follow large game animals or locate more abundant sources of wild plants. At least as early as 50,000 years ago, the type of Paleolithic human beings known as Neanderthals, named from the remains found in the Neanderthal Valley in Germany, spread over Macedonia and then into Greece as far south as the Peloponnese peninsula."

Tags:paeolithic, neolithic, stone, age

From the Paper
"The study of ancient Israel has been both tremendously advanced and transformed by the use of archaeology. This field has been used to support the historical narrative provided by the Biblical text in some instances, while altering the views of many modern scholars as to what dates the biblical stories are to represent, when they were written, and how historically reliable they are. Although the use of archaeology in the study of ancient Israel has not been able to conclusively support or refute the assumptions made about the time period, as derived from the Bible, it has proved helpful in formulating more well-informed beliefs as to what ancient Israelite society was like."

Tags:bible, christ, christianity, god, jesus, origins, religion, theology

Abstract
This paper discusses how the use of archaeological and historical data as a tool of the state has a long and illustrious history and how in many cases it seems possible that the archaeological record exists partly in an attempt to influence the nationalism of the future. It examines the different ways in which archeology interacts with national/political perception such as a tool of the state either in substantiating claims to land or power, or in promoting a specific style of government or nationalism in general. It analyzes how archeology is dependent upon and biased by its surroundings in many ways and how at the same time, modern culture depends upon archeology to be its memory of the past and to provide it with the assumptions and biases it needs to function.

From the Paper
"Because of the power of the past to reinvent the future, some states may resort to forcing the past into the molds they desire. Consider, for a minute, our previous two imaginary nations. What if it turned out that Nation A had in fact completely and intentionally misinterpreted the ruins in those hills, and had in fact planted occasional pieces of data? What if the ruins actually existed to a third, expired race of people? Nation A's use of these ruins to create the foundation for war, despite all contrary evidence, would make them a prime example of the second sort of relationship that may exist between archeology and the nation/society. Sometimes, archeology is just a puppet of the state. For example, there is a great deal of evidence that archeological departments in Nazi Germany creatively "made up" a great deal of evidence supporting the supremacy of the Aryan race. By giving themselves (illusory) archeological evidence of the past greatness of their militant people, they invoked a new martial spirit among their modern community. Yet the Nazis have not been alone in such revisionism."

Tags:history, government, nationalism, culture

Abstract
This research examines archaeological evidence associated with the story of Noah's Ark told in Genesis. It explains how the Genesis story of Noah's Ark, which describes a great flood that destroys all life and civilization except for an extended family and the extended family of livestock in its care, is premised on the idea that the family patriarch, Noah, received instructions from God to build a gigantic boat, or ark. The paper looks at alternative version of the story and archaeological evidence of its occurrence through history.

From the Paper
"Articulation of alternative visions of Noah in the modern period has occurred in a climate of contentiousness. That is because the absence of definitive archaeological confirmation of the ancient texts runs up against a widespread insistence in Judaeo-Christian culture on the historicity of the Noah story. The extent of contentiousness was manifest especially in 1997, when a credentialed Australian geologist, Ian Plimer, was ejected from a creationist lecture when ark explorer Allen Roberts refused to answer questions about geologic time. Plimer later sued Roberts for science fraud on the theory of "the dangers inherent in letting fundamentalists go unchallenged" (Scott 9). Plimer lost on the legal issue, which resulted in his bankruptcy, but won on substantive argument and PR grounds, reflected in a host of contributions to Plimer's legal fund."

Tags:bible, flood, gilgamesh, geology

Abstract
This paper presents two fixed essay questions of three pages: the first, on patterns in how civilizations rise and fall that stresses work of Wright and Diamond to do with repeating destructive ecological practices. The second paper responds to an open question as to why one should not disturb burial sites, that addresses later 20th century collaboration between indigenous groups and archaeologists, and the prevention of site looting and sale of artifacts.

From the Paper
"Human civilizations have emerged and fallen according to a rather predictable pattern. Ronald Wright referred to civilizations as having begun with an idea, in the cultivation of a food supply, the Middle East one of several regions of the world where agriculture developed independently at around the same time. (Progress 42) The ability to predict local food allowed larger populations to be organized, specialized labour and a leisure class with the luxury of time to deduce new planning. Unfortunately, as Jared Diamond has argued, human civilizations have a way of advancing to points of ecological crisis that usually spells their..."

Tags:civilization, archaeology, wright, diamond

Abstract
The paper discusses the Hollywood image of the archaeologist and the discipline of anthropology. The paper defines archaeology and the role of anthropologists. The paper describes how the movie "Indiana Jones" makes archaeology look dangerous, exciting and extremely profitable while the realities of the discipline are totally different. The paper illustrates how Hollywood alters fact into fantasy to create its own version of anthropology and asserts that the character of Indiana Jones is not representative of the average archaeologist.

From the Paper
"Indiana Jones makes archaeology look dangerous, exciting, and extremely profitable. The realities of the discipline are far different, as most professional archaeologists know. While Jones always finds the treasure, gets the girl, and escapes from the enemy, the real world of archaeology involves patience, long, tedious hours of digging and recovery, and more hours cataloging and indexing, often with few monetary rewards. However, discovering missing items from the past is enough reward for many anthropologists. Unlike Indiana Jones, their greatest rewards come from finding links to tie together ancient lives, rather than treasure for display in the world's museums."

Tags:fact, fantasy, legend, Hollywood, excitement, reality, misconceptions

Abstract
The paper describes how, through the ages, it has become evident that ancient civilizations had methods of creating structures that are unexplained, even to this day. The paper discusses how the manner in which astronomy affects archeology verifies this contention. The paper examines ancient observatories such as Chaco Canyon, Machu Picchu, and Chichen Itza, which have given science the means to explore the methods practiced by ancient societies in correlating the existence of their societies with the heavens.

Tags:astrology, archaeology, observatories

Abstract
This paper presents an overview of the history of ancient Ashkelon, located in present-day Israel, including details of archaeological finds.

From the Paper
"For nearly 5,000 years, Askelon was one of the great seaports of the Mediterranean, but today Askelon is a forgotten name outside of Israel. It was located on the trade routes that ran from Turkey and Syria to Egypt and was a major seaport as far back as 3500 B.C. 40 miles south of Tel Aviv, it was the capital of the Canaanite kings, harbor of the Philistines, and "stomping grounds" of Sampson. "

Tags:archaeology, middle, east, israel