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

You need a certain amount of wealth to dig up ancient treasures and say “This belongs in a museum” rather than “This is mine”. People have been digging up ancient sites since ancient times (even very recently after they were made…), but only recently have we stopped calling that “grave robbing” and applied a scientific method to it or have considered spending large amounts of resources for the sake of science and discovery alone. Consider the history of archaeology:

1. Digging up ancient treasures and just destroying them to get valuable metals and gems
2. Digging up ancient treasures and displaying them in personal collections
3. Digging up ancient treasures, displaying them in personal collections and taking note of scientific data
4. Digging up ancient treasures, displaying them in public museums and taking note of scientific data
5. Digging up ancient sites and taking note of scientific data

This has progressed from the goal being personal enrichment in material wealth to common enrichment in knowledge.