Archaeology Vs Palaeontology: Know the difference!

When I get asked about what I do for a living, I say that I am an archaeologist. It is then often followed by questions like, "so you dig dinosaurs?!", "How many dinosaurs have you found yet?" and other questions related to "dinos" basically! Social media is largely responsible for the spread of information which is many-a-times full of ambiguity and errors. So here’s a basic write-up to help you understand how archaeology and palaeontology are different fields of study. 

Let’s look at archaeology first. A famous anthropologist Leslie White once said, culture is “man’s extrasomatic means of adaptation”. And archaeology is the study of past human cultures. Extrasomatic means anything that exists outside of the individual human body. Archaeology encompasses everything created by past humans as a means to adapt to their surroundings and advance as a species. The different types of objects produced by past humans are called artefacts. These are made by shaping existing raw material. For example, the earliest hominids shaped tools out of stones. They  used these for activities like digging out tubers from the ground, hunting animals for consumption, scraping animal hides and so on. These stone tools are a medium for the archaeologist to understand more about how early humans procured food. Archaeologists around the world study various facets of past human life. In the more advanced times, agricultural revolution took place and humans settled down by forming societies. Sedentary lifestyle gave rise to various aspects of culture in the form of creation of art and architecture, for example, consider the popular Egyptian civilization. It flourished along the fertile plains of the Nile River and is known for the construction of massive pyramids. Most of the pyramids were tombs built for pharaohs and their consorts. You can read more about it here. There are different sub-disciplines in archaeology like zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, geoarchaeology, ethnoarchaeology and so on. Notice how the word archaeo is prefixed and suffixed to these other sciences. It is because archaeology borrows some of their principles and applies to similar evidence found from the past. Just to give an idea, zooarchaeology is the study of animal remains found in excavations at human settlements. This branch of archaeology examines the kind of relationship humans had with animals and the purposes that animals served to humans eg. for diet, agriculture, secondary uses like crafting bone ornaments, tools, etc. There are other sub-disciplines too, like numismatics, that deals with the study of ancient coinage; epigraphy, that studies ancient inscriptions; iconography and architecture that focus on art and so on. If I were to describe all the sub-disciplines that exist in archaeology then this article would be a lengthy essay. But I think this brief information suffices for the topic at hand. 

Palaeontology/ Paleontology, on the other hand, is the study of organisms that lived on Earth during different geological periods but are now extinct. For example, dinosaurs! They are believed to have become extinct about 65 million years ago. Palaeontology is not only limited to studying vertebrates but also has a branch called micropalaeontology which deals with ancient plants and microorganisms like fungi, bacteria, foraminifera, and plankton. The only evidence that remains of their existence is in the form of fossils. Fossil is the term used for remains found as evidence of past life. Remains of bones, teeth, shells, impressions of plants on sedimentary rocks, insects and plants preserved in resin amber are all forms of fossils. Hard tissues like bones, teeth and shells are included in this category because their structures undergo various changes and most organic components are replaced by minerals. The outer structure retains the shape but the inner composition changes significantly. So what information do fossils provide in themselves? Once found, their morphology (form) is studied to determine their species. Sometimes new species are also created to accommodate new finds. Based on that, palaeontologists try to find out their closest living relatives, if any. For example, ichthyosaurs are an extinct marine reptile species that had a body structure similar to fishes. This similarity indicated to the palaeontologists of their ability to swim. This feature is also confirmed by the fact that their fossils are found in marine sediments. The evidence for oldest complex life forms is dated to have existed between 575 mya - 542 mya (Million Years Ago). These were the Ediacaran fauna, soft-bodied multi-celled animals. Since those times, palaeontology includes all the life forms that have come into existence and gone extinct. I hope this information gives you an idea of what this field of study encompasses. To sum up, palaeontology is a vital discipline from the perspective of evolutionary and climate change studies. It provides insights into mass extinction events and factors such as the time required for ecosystems to recover after extinctions, kind of biodiversity necessary for a healthy biosphere and aspects as such. For more information on this topic, I am including references of a couple palaeontology books in the section below. 

Cheers,

B.

References:

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/when-did-dinosaurs-become-extinct#

https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Egypt

Introduction to Palaeontology by Dr. Stuart Sutherland

Paleontology - A Brief History of Life by Ian Tattersall

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/earth-sciences/research/research-groups/palaeontology