What Is the Difference Between Archaeology and Paleontology?

Imagine a person who studies the past. This person travels the world, leads excavations, and carefully unearths and records every clue. Maybe this person takes samples to a laboratory for analysis or works in a museum, preserving the finds and curating them for public display.

Is this person an archaeologist or a paleontologist? Do you know the difference?

Although both professions involve many of the same activities—such as excavation, dating, preservation, and the interpretation of remains—paleontologists and archaeologists want to know very different things about the past.

Archaeology is the study of material remains from past human life and activities. Archaeologists make inferences about the past by studying objects and landscapes modified by humans. These artifacts include tools, jewelry, buildings, tombs, and burial mounds. They also look at patterns of settlement. Using this information, they piece together a picture of how humans lived in the past. In colleges and universities archaeologists are often found in departments of anthropology, history, or Classics. Archaeologists may also work in various area studies departments.

Paleontology is the study of past life, including animal, plant, fungal, bacterial, and single-celled life. Paleontologists study fossils—preserved remnants, impressions, and traces of life—to learn about the creatures that lived in the deep past. By studying all life, from the simple archaea and the large Calamites to dinosaurs and saber-toothed cats, paleontologists uncover how various life-forms evolved and the way Earth changed over long periods of time. In the academy, paleontologists often work in geology or biology departments.

And if you get confused, just remember: paleontology is Jurassic Park; archaeology is Indiana Jones.