Digging Up Ancient Artifacts, Human Remains, Lost Civilizations

Roman Vindolanda, England: Archaeologists and summer students at excavations at the ancient roman fort and settlement Roman Vindolanda near Hadrian wall in England on July 12, 2011.

For this week’s Please Explain, Marilyn Johnson, author of Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble, and archaeologist Dr. David Hurst Thomas dig up the details of the field of archaeology. They tell us how things are found, excavated, and identified, and explore issues of ownership, cultural heritage, and what should be excavated and what shouldn’t.