archaeology
The study of the past by excavation and analysis of its material remains.
Other meanings
The actual remains together with their location in the stratigraphy.
The academic subject; in the USA: one of the four sub-disciplines of anthropology.
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “archaeology” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.