An archaeologist is a person who studies the cultural and physical remains of past civilizations. Some archaeologists study bones. Others study artifacts, which are things from ancient civilizations like artwork, tools, and buildings. Archaeologists can have many different specialties. Sometimes they spend time researching the past. Many archaeologists spend time doing fieldwork—collecting and observing information while digging at a site. And, maybe most importantly, they have to put all the things they fi nd together to form theories about the past, whether it is a particular civilization or animal. Certain evidence provides information about the way people and animals lived and behaved. For example, the way an animal’s teeth are formed might indicate what kind of food the animal ate. By putting this information together, archaeologists can give us theories of how people lived thousands of years ago.
