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

They did dig stuff up before, and usually promptly demolished it to recycle the building materials.

Studying the past is a “luxury” that requires both available capital and time to “waste” (for lack of a better term) on a non productive endeavor.

This is only really possible in the wealthy societies post industrial revolution.