ELi5 : Why does it seem a lot of archeology began so recently in the 20th and 19th centuries? Why weren’t we digging up stuff much earlier?

Question

It seems many of the most important archeological findings were in the 20th and 19th century. Why did humans wait so long to start digging stuff up?

In: 961

Answer 1

Archeology goes back as far as Egypt, when Pharos would dig up relics from Babylon.

The British Empire consolidating artifacts, along with better technology, documentation, and the scientific method are why we have more of it.