archeologists

IPA/ˌɑː.kiˈɒl.ə.dʒɪst/
IPA/ˌɑːr.kiˈɑː.lə.dʒɪst/

archeologists — noun

1. people whose job is to find and study items from ancient times, such as tools, p

1.nounB1
Definition

people whose job is to find and study items from ancient times, such as tools, pottery, buildings, and bones, so that we can understand how humans lived many centuries ago

Example

The archeologists carefully removed soil around clay pots from a Bronze Age settlement.

verb + preposition: remove soil around + object

A team of Korean archeologists found an ancient burial site near the Han River.

team of archeologists + verb: found/discovered

Common collocations
  • professional archeologists
  • field archeologists
  • team of archeologists
  • archeologists discovered / uncovered / found
  • archeologists working at a site
Synonyms
  • excavators

    focuses on the digging aspect of the job; less formal and more specific to fieldwork

  • prehistorians

    refers to archeologists who specialize in periods before written records existed

  • antiquarians

    an older term for someone who collects or studies old objects, now less common in professional contexts

Usage Note

This is the American and increasingly common international spelling; the traditional British spelling is 'archaeologists'. The singular form is 'archeologist' (or 'archaeologist').

Common Mistakes

The archeologists looked at old books in the library.
The archeologists dug trenches at the excavation site to find ancient objects.
An archeologist's main work involves physical remains, not written records (which are studied by historians).
Archeologists study dinosaurs and fossils of ancient animals.
Archeologists study human-made objects and human remains from the past.
Dinosaurs and prehistoric animals are studied by paleontologists, not archeologists.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four terms relate to the study of the past, but 'archeologist' is the broadest and most modern professional term. An 'excavator' focuses on the physical digging at a site — it describes an activity rather than a whole profession. A 'prehistorian' is a type of archeologist who only studies periods before written documents existed, which is a narrower specialty. 'Antiquarian' is an older, now less formal word for someone who collects or admires old objects, often without formal scientific training. 'Anthropologist' is the most distinct — it studies living and recent human cultures and societies, while archeologists focus specifically on physical remains from the past. For example, an anthropologist might live with a community to study its customs, whereas an archeologist would excavate the community's ancestors' village to find objects they left behind.

excavator ↗prehistorianantiquarian ↗anthropologist ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • team of archeologists
  • work as an archeologist
  • archeologist by training

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'archeologist' comes from Greek 'archaios' (ἀρχαῖος), meaning 'ancient, old', combined with '-logist' meaning 'one who studies'. It entered English in the early 19th century as the study of ancient human civilizations developed into a proper scientific field. The spelling 'archaeologist' uses the Latinized Greek diphthong 'ae', while 'archeologist' reflects a simplified modern American spelling.

First known use

1785

1785, in the meaning defined above