|Introduction||Some problems and exceptions|
As a discipline, archaeology is related to or has affinities with both anthropology and history. This mixed nature is reflected in the treatment of archaeology in the LC Classification System, which is not altogether straightforward.
The first step in classifying an archaeological work is to identify the category and areas into which it falls.
Distinction between categories:
Within the latter category, there are two broad areas of division to consider:
The term “prehistoric” applies to a culture prior to the existence of writing in that culture.
The term “historical” here, applying to cultures with writing, includes protohistoric periods, i.e., periods that shade into the verge of history (with limited availability of written records).
|E.g.||History of the science of archaeology: General works||CC100|
|E.g.||Directories [of archaeologists]: General||CC120|
|E.g.||Boundary stones: General works||CC600|
Can be further broken down by period or topic
|E.g.||Mesolithic period: General works||GN773|
|E.g.||Lake dwellings and lake dwellers||GN785|
|E.g.||Petroglyphs. Rock paintings||GN799.P4|
Further distinctions may be based on whether the focus is on an indigenous Indian group or groups, e.g., Precolumbian sites
|E.g.||Antiquities of America in general, non-Indian||E21.5|
|E.g.||Antiquities of North America, non-Indian||E43|
|E.g.||Precolumbian America: the Indians||E51-74|
|Archaeology of the Americans||E61|
|E.g.||Archaeology of Indians of North America||E77.8-94|
|E.g.||Central America: Antiquities. Indians (Ancient and modern):
Mayas: Local, A-Z: Tikal
Further broken down by prehistoric period (including place or culture by period) or place (general prehistory)
|E.g.||Mesolithic Period: Europe: By region or country||GN774.22.A-Z|
|E.g.||Mesolithic Period: Germany||GN774.22.G4|
|covers Germany in general and local places in Germany|
|also covers special topics, e.g., pottery in Mesolithic Germany|
|E.g.||Neolithic Period: Special cultures, peoples, etc., A-Z: Beaker||GN776.2.B4|
|E.g.||Prehistoric archaeology: By region or country: Germany: General works||GN813.A5-Z|
|also covers special topics, e.g., pottery in prehistoric Germany|
For works on prehistoric archaeology of the Eastern Hemisphere, then, the order of preference in classification is:
By broad period or place (under history and description of that place; sometimes also by period under place)
|E.g.||India: Antiquities: General works||DS418|
|E.g.||England: History: Saxons, 445-1066: Antiquities||DA155|
|E.g.||Italy: Ancient Italy; Rome to 476: Local history|
and description: Chiusi
If coverage includes both prehistoric and historical periods, the work should generally be classified as historical (unless there is only very small amount of coverage on the historical).
Some problems and exceptions
One common error is the classification of a work on prehistoric archaeology as historical. The reverse error is also found. Works on Bronze Age and Iron Age sites can be tricky, since those periods are not automatically prehistoric -- it depends on the culture.
There are also some exceptions to the general pattern. For example:
|E.g.||Boundary stones: By region or country, A-Z||CC605.A-Z|
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HTML document last reviewed: 20 April 2004