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

life was considerably more difficult prior to some inventions & discoveries such as electricity.

Imo, the humans then just were too busy trying to survive everyday life.

I’m also sure that archeological findings did occur well into the past but some might not have found value in recording their findings as publications were not in heavy use back in those days, the public was not as well educated, not many interested parties