'', Greek sculpture from the 1st century BCE,
Vatican Museums. Excavated in Rome in 1506. Archaeology later concerned itself with the antiquarianism movement. Antiquarians studied history with particular attention to ancient artifacts and manuscripts, as well as historical sites. They usually were wealthy people. They collected artifacts and displayed them in cabinets of curios. Antiquarianism also focused on 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 era in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Imperial China During the
Song dynasty (960–1279) in China, educated
gentry became interested in the antiquarian pursuit of art collecting.
Neo-Confucian scholar-officials were generally concerned with archaeological pursuits in order to revive the use of ancient
Shang,
Zhou, and
Han relics in state rituals. Although a distinct minority, there were others who took the discipline as seriously as Shen did. For instance, the official, historian, poet, and essayist
Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) compiled an analytical catalogue of ancient
rubbings on stone and
bronze.
Zhao Mingcheng (1081–1129) stressed the importance of using ancient inscriptions to correct discrepancies and errors in later
historical texts discussing ancient events.
Native Chinese antiquarian studies waned during the
Yuan (1279–1368) and
Ming (1368–1644) dynasties, were revived during the
Qing dynasty (1644–1912), but never developed into a
systematic discipline of archaeology outside of
Chinese historiography. The
Chong xiu Xuanhe bogutu (重修宣和博古圖) archaeological
collection catalogue commissioned by
Emperor Huizong of Song (r. 1100–1125) was
widely reprinted in the 16th century during the Ming period, but it was criticized by
Hong Mai (1123–1202) for containing inaccuracies about
Han dynasty artifacts.
Medieval India The 12th 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 1150 and is described as one of the first history books of India.
Renaissance Europe (Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli), fresco, dated 1459 In Europe, interest in the remains of
Greco-
Roman civilisation and the rediscovery of classical culture began in the
Late Middle Ages. Despite the importance of antiquarian writing in the
literature of ancient Rome, such as
Livy's discussion of
ancient monuments, scholars generally view antiquarianism as emerging only in the
Middle Ages.
Flavio Biondo, 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. The itinerant scholar
Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli or Cyriacus of Ancona (1391–) also traveled throughout Greece to record his findings on ancient buildings and objects. Ciriaco traveled all around the Eastern Mediterranean, noting his archaeological discoveries in a day-book,
Commentaria, that eventually filled six volumes. He has been called the "father of archaeology" by historians such as Edward W. Bodnar: English antiquarians of the 16th century including
John Leland and
William Camden conducted
topographical surveys of England's countryside, drawing, describing and interpreting the monuments that they encountered. These individuals were frequently
clergymen: many
vicars recorded local landmarks within their parishes, details of the landscape and ancient monuments such as
standing stones—even if they did not always understand the significance of what they were seeing.
Shift to nationalism In the late 18th to 19th century archaeology became a national endeavor as personal cabinets of curios turned into national museums. People were now being hired to go out and collect artifacts to make a nation's collection more grand and to show how far a nation's reach extends. For example,
Giovanni Battista Belzoni was hired by
Henry Salt, the British consul to Egypt, to gather antiquities for Britain. In nineteenth-century Mexico, the expansion of the
National Museum of Anthropology and the excavation of major archaeological ruins by
Leopoldo Batres were part of the liberal regime of
Porfirio Díaz to create a glorious image of Mexico's pre-Hispanic past.
First excavations Among the first sites to undergo archaeological excavation were
Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments in
England. The first known excavations made at Stonehenge were conducted by
William Harvey and Gilbert North in the early 17th century. Both
Inigo Jones and the Duke of Buckingham also dug there shortly afterwards.
John Aubrey was a pioneer archaeologist who recorded numerous
megalithic and other
field monuments in southern England. He also mapped the
Avebury henge monument. He wrote
Monumenta Britannica in the late 17th century as a survey of early urban and military sites, including Roman towns, "camps" (
hillforts), and castles, and a review of archaeological remains, including sepulchral monuments, roads, coins and urns. 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.
William Stukeley was another antiquarian who contributed to the early development of archaeology in the early 18th century. He also investigated the prehistoric monuments of
Stonehenge and
Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology". He was one of the first to attempt to date the megaliths, arguing that they were a remnant of the pre-Roman
druidic religion. Excavations were carried out in the ancient towns of
Pompeii and
Herculaneum, both of which had been covered by ashes during the
eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79. These excavations began in 1748 in Pompeii, while in Herculaneum they began in 1738 under the auspices of King
Charles VII of Naples. In Herculaneum, the Theatre, the Basilica and the
Villa of the Papyri were discovered in 1768. The discovery of entire towns, complete with utensils and even human shapes, as well the unearthing of ancient
frescos, had much impact throughout
Europe. A very influential figure in the development of the theoretical and systematic study of the past through its physical remains was "the prophet and founding hero of modern archaeology,"
Johann Joachim Winckelmann. Winckelmann was a founder of scientific archaeology by first applying empirical categories of style on a large, systematic basis to the classical (Greek and Roman)
history of art and architecture. His original approach was based on detailed empirical examinations of artefacts from which reasoned conclusions could be drawn and theories developed about ancient societies. In America,
Thomas Jefferson, possibly inspired by his experiences in Europe, supervised the systematic excavation of a
Native American burial mound on his land in
Virginia in 1784. Although Jefferson's investigative methods were ahead of his time, they were primitive by today's standards.
Napoleon's army carried out excavations during its
Egyptian campaign, in 1798–1801, which also was the first major overseas archaeological expedition. The emperor took with him a force of 500 civilian scientists, specialists in fields such as biology, chemistry and languages, in order to carry out a full study of the ancient civilisation. The work of
Jean-François Champollion in deciphering the
Rosetta Stone to discover the hidden meaning of
hieroglyphics proved the key to the study of
Egyptology. However, prior to the development of modern techniques excavations tended to be haphazard; the importance of concepts such as
stratification and
context were completely overlooked. For instance, in 1803, there was widespread criticism of
Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin for removing the
Elgin Marbles from the
Parthenon in
Athens. The marble sculptures themselves, however, were valued by his critics only for their aesthetic qualities, not for the information they contained about Ancient Greek civilization. In the first half of the 19th century many other archaeological expeditions were organized;
Giovanni Battista Belzoni and
Henry Salt collected
Ancient Egyptian artifacts for the
British Museum,
Paul Émile Botta excavated the palace of
Assyrian ruler
Sargon II,
Austen Henry Layard unearthed the ruins of Babylon and
Nimrud and discovered the
Library of Ashurbanipal and
Robert Koldeway and
Karl Richard Lepsius excavated sites in the
Middle East. However, the methodology was still poor, and the digging was aimed at the discovery of artefacts and monuments. ==Development of archaeological method==