1. Archaeology Unit Vocabulary

2. Prehistory - The time in history before anything was written down

3. History - The Study of the Past

4. Fossil - Part of an animal or plant that lived millions of years ago and that has been preserved or the shape of one these plants or animals that is preserved in rock

5. Artifact - An object made by humans

6. Oral Tradition - The legends, myths, and beliefs that a culture passes from generation to generation by word of mouth

7. Primary Source - Information about events recorded or created during the time period a historian studies

8. Secondary Source - Information about events recorded after those events by people who have studied the primary sources

9. Archaeology - The study of ancient societies by examining what remains of their buildings, graves, tools, etc.

10. Excavation - The careful digging of an area of land to find ancient objects, bones, etc.

11. Radiocarbon Dating - A method used by scientists to find out the age of very old objects (because carbon decays at a regular rate)