21st November 2008, 03:50 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by 1man1desk
"The study of the human past through the material remains of human activity".
If an art historian were to study both the works of Rembrandt and the materials with which Rembrandt created his art with a view to understanding something of Dutch society in the 17th century would that make him or her an archaeologist or an art historian?
If a potter were to research the materials and form of Iron Age ceramics with a view to making perfect copies for sale in an English Heritage gift shop would that make him or her an archaeologist or a potter?
Perhaps the distinction can be made between an 'archaeologist' (lower case) who merely needs to happily state they are pursuing archaeology and an 'Archaeologist' (upper case) who might wish to have some form of legal definition describing their straight-jacket!!
Personally I'm happy to be down there with the lower cases...