The Field of Archaeology

Archaeologists refer to artifacts as "objectified thought." Every tool, piece of pottery, or scrap of cloth began as an idea in someone's head. Through craft and artisanry, that thought was turned into an object. Artifacts always reflect the behaviors and beliefs of the people and cultures that created them.

Thinking about it this way, objects help us imagine how ancient people thought. This leads archaeologists to ask, Why did they think that way? How did individual people think about their culture, and why? How did societies respond to their environments and to other civilizations around them? These are questions that objects can sometimes answer.

Using the collections of the Gustav Jeeninga Museum, this exhibit explores life in the Near East during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Both of these periods were eras of change for the region. Individual and cultural responses to these changes are preserved in the objects people left behind.