Basics of Archaeology

-How to Know an Artifact's Age

April 25th (Tue.) ~ June 25 (Sun.), 2023

Feature Exhibition Room 3

Which is older?

Left: Sue ware with ring-shaped handles 6-7th c.
Right: Sue ware with knot handles 6-7th c.

What comes to mind when you think of archaeology? Some might answer dinosaur fossils, pyramids, or buried treasure while those who are familiar with history might answer ruins or excavation.

Archaeology is the study of history. Its objects are any artifacts that humans once made, processed, and used, such as earthenware, stoneware, building materials, and food remnants (food scraps in those days!). This makes archaeology useful for reconstructing the history and the lifestyles of people in a time when there were no letters or other written communication.

In order to advance the research, archaeologists need to start by extracting information from relics and verbalizing them, unlike documented records, where events are expressed and organized in words.

This exhibition introduces you to one of the most basic methods of archaeological research, the dating method, which determines the age of excavated items. The dating method research proved to be useful in helping to establish the age of our museum’s permanent exhibits. We hope that this exhibition will make your future visit to historical exhibitions more enjoyable.

Exhibition view