archaeological
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of archaeological
1775–85; < Greek archaiologik ( ós ) ( see archaeology, -ic) + -al 1
Explanation
An old house that has sat abandoned for hundreds of years isn’t just creepy — it’s archaeological! This is because its remains offer a treasure trove of details about the past and the lives of those who once called it home. The term archaeological describes anything connected to the field of archaeology, which is the study of human history and the past. Archaeological digs and findings help piece together human history like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Objects can include anything from pottery shards to old bones, adding a piece to the story of human life on Earth. It’s like time traveling through objects, where every discovery teaches us something new about our ancestors.
Vocabulary lists containing archaeological
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A key piece of that evidence is a study published in 2022 of very early Neanderthal skulls from northern Spain at an archaeological site called "the Pit of Bones".
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
Having risen and fallen before the advent of written history, the city was completely unknown before Mellaart discovered the mound during an archaeological survey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
The team reconstructed 26 genomes of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, from human remains recovered at 11 archaeological sites in Estonia, Russia, England, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
What to know: A comedy about women on an archaeological dig, the show reunites Amy Poehler and “Parks and Recreation” creator Michael Schur, and is based on the novel “Excavations” by Kate Myers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
At about that time, the first evidence of large-scale land clearing for milpas appears in the archaeological record.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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