●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
In the early 1900s, archaeologists were explorers, and they were often driven by
curiosity or greed.
Often these excavations were motivated by the search for treasures or works of art that
could be sold. Because of this desire to find large valuable items, early archaeologists
did not always take the greatest care with the smaller, fragile artifacts that they deemed
to be less valuable. Many artifacts were destroyed, and little serious study was done on
what survived.
To prevent the carelessness and fraud that were common in early archaeology,
present-day archaeology has strict, worldwide protocols, or rules, established to
minimize the impact of dig sites. Shovels and picks, tools thought of as digging
implements, are only used for a small portion of archaeological work. Much of the work
is done with much smaller instruments in order to avoid destroying remains or artifacts.
Small, shovel-like instruments called trowels are used to remove small amounts of dirt.
The dirt is sifted through a screen in an attempt to locate small items such as bone
shards and pot fragments.
If the archaeologists locate artifacts, they are extracted, or dug up, using penknives, or
small knives that resemble scalpels, and brushed to remove any remaining fine dirt and
other material. The artifacts are then placed into plastic bags and labeled. Finally, the
artifacts are recorded, reported, and often put on display.
In 1992, archaeologists found a molar tooth in Aramis, Ethiopia, that was unlike any
remains that had been seen before. It belonged to a hominin, which is a species from
the same group of primates as humans, but it was far older and far different from any
other finds.
In 1974, another skeleton, commonly known as “Lucy,” was discovered in Ethiopia by
Donald Johanson. Lucy has been dated to 3.2 million years ago and was labeled an
Australopithecus.
Early hominids lived in forests, usually along the edges, as well as the open savanna.
They were comfortable moving about in the trees and on the ground. Some built huts out
of saplings by burying them in a circle and tying the tops together in the middle. Stones
placed in a ring kept the saplings in place.
Scientists believe that Homo sapiens began to migrate out of Africa about 80,000 years
ago. Scientists believe that they left across one of two routes—either over land across
modern Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula or across the mouth of the Red Sea from modern
Ethiopia to the Arabian Peninsula.