The study of the past by excavation and analysis of its material remains
the actual excavation, examination, analysis and interpretation.
the actual remains together with their location in the stratigraphy.
the academic subject; in the USA: one of the four sub-disciplines of anthropology.
The study of those times.
The time before written records in any area of the world; the events and conditions of those times.
Any past time (even recent) treated as such a distant, unknowable era.
The history leading up to some event, condition, etc.