Archaeology, that is, ancient research, belongs to the humanities. It is a branch of history in China, but it is a branch of anthropology in the United States and Canada, and it is an independent discipline or part of history in Europe. Archaeology aims to study the history of ancient human society according to the material data left over from various activities of ancient human beings.

Physical materials include all kinds of relics and relics, most of which are buried underground. Only through scientific investigation and excavation can they be systematically and completely revealed and collected. China is the first country in the world to germinate archaeological thoughts and publish monographs on antiquities.

In the 4th century BC, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people had vaguely understood the value of collecting antiquities, and even built a "collection room" similar to today's museum in Luoyang at that time. The study of epigraphy in Song Dynasty was quite developed, and ancient epigraphy research works began to appear. For example, the Archaeological Map compiled by Lu Dalin in the seventh year of Yuan You in the Northern Song Dynasty not only depicts the shape of the vessels, but also records the name, size and unearthed place of each vessel.

Since then, Liu Chang's Records of Ancient Wares in the Pre-Qin Period, Song Huizong Xuanhe Bo Gu Map, Xue Shanggong's Notes on Ancient Wares in Zhong Ding, Ouyang Xiu's Collection of Ancient Wares, and Zhao Mingcheng Stone Story have appeared.

A large number of works of different categories emerged in the Qing Dynasty, including ancient epigraphy, ancient coins, jade, ceramics, writing and other works, among which the research results of ancient Chinese characters are particularly outstanding. With the European civilization entering the scientific era, the scientific and standardized archaeology was born in Europe in the19th century, and then it was introduced to China.