Archaeology being a school of study in science on human material remains i.e. fossils, artifacts etc of past human life and activities brings out the need to understand the origin of things to how we perceive them now.
When learning how to write an archaeology essay, having access to physical evidence that is access to the original site or artifact under study though hard in most cases would give you a better basis to write your essay.
Choosing the topic study of your essay
Before making the final decision on the topic to embark on for your essay, have an extensive plan on how you are going to carry out the research needed for the essay i.e. are you going to visit the site or do you have access to the original artifact? Also, have in mind the current research that has been done on the subject as this will give you a better reference basis and also show you which areas have been left out.
Make sure you also clearly expound on your ideology behind your findings or answers to your topic by interpretation and backing up your methodology and findings.
Importance of having access to primary archeological researches/artifacts
Access to primary and original artifacts or sites for your essay writing though difficult in most cases is an added advantage to your findings as this access will increase your academic credibility of the study.
This access will also give you a better understanding of the topic under study and give you a sense of ‘own’ as you embark on the actually writing on your findings.
Some archaeological artifacts may be displayed on museums or in different institutions under specific preservation surrounding and may be open to the public presenting a great chance to view them.
This primary access to the sites or artifacts under study creates a better basis of your study as compared to referencing to written materials (secondary referencing.)
Choosing and researching your archaeology essay
Due to the diversity of topics in Archaeology, choosing one may be a hard task and this makes you prone to straying into other topics.
Before coming to a decision on what to write consider:
- Potential access to the primary sites or artifacts. This will indefinitely increase your credibility on the study and ease your explanations.
- Amount of available and accessible already made research on the topic. Consider what questions have been left unanswered by the previous studies done, choose an unanswered question to avoid a cliché on already done studies as you’ll be simply reviewing work already done or look for another angle to tackle an already done research with a lot of facts to back up your angle.
- Your personal interest and understanding of the topic. Choose a topic you can easily tackle and relate to, as it will even increase your enthusiasm while undertaking the research needed.
With these factors all accounted for, your research has definitely kicked off into the right direction. When doing the actual research, avoid overlooking any details as they may come in handy later, it’s better to jolt them down.
Structure of your essay
Before starting the research officially on the topic you have chosen, come up with a rough draft of what you want to achieve at the end of the study, what steps you will follow through, where you will reference from (primary or secondary). This will certainly guide you throughout the research.
Learning how to write an archaeology essay is all about your understanding of the topic and having an understanding on the structures and analysis methods used in coming up with an archaeology study is the basis to writing a good essay.
Throughout the research, make pointers on different findings, as this will ease your work while compiling.
These drafts can also bring out an unseeingly angle you may have over looked throughout the study which you can embark on later. It will also give you a sense of your own work.
Importance of sticking to your question during the research on your archaeology essay
Having the original question or topic in mind is an already success to writing a good archaeology essayas it will guide you as you carry out your research, as you will know the specific areas to look into.
Focusing on answering the question in your study will help you arrange your thoughts and ease the work while writing after carrying out the research.
This focus will also help you come up with the answers to your study, expound your findings and support your methodology you used as well as keep a reader interested since there will be a chronological order of your thoughts.
Have in mind the best essays are the essays written in a quick pace at first, when you have all the information gathered, go through it making necessary corrections on the style to be used, flow of your thoughts and ideas and enhance on the details making sure you back they have the correct backup or references. Taking into mind all the above steps and advises given above will definitely ensure a success in your writing of an archaeology essay.
We hope you learned a lot from reading our free ‘how to write an archaeology essay‘ guide.