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

The reason the Roman Colosseum is so fucked up is because at some point the people “archeologied” the bricks for their own purposes. As some people have mentioned, archeology is a luxury, both financial and mental. If you don’t really have a concept of time outside your daily life, would you care if something old is not saved for future generations?