Modern archaeology originated in Europe during the Renaissance, as collectors who took an interest in long-lost Grecian and Roman cultures began to collect artifacts. Generally, these findings were valued as pieces of art rather than pieces of scientific evidence. Rulers often sponsored expeditions to collect objects. For example, Napoleon led a team of 175 scholars into Egypt, which led to the publication of the "Description of Egypt" in 1809. Cracking the code of the Rosetta Stone in 1822 made hieroglyphics understandable. Reliably accurate historical timelines and the burgeoning study of Darwinian evolution further piqued interest in finding the facts about the ancient past. An archaeologist named Flinders Petrie published his method for systematic excavations in 1904, and King Tut's burial chambers were discovered in 1922. These events really fueled the 20th-century interest in archaeology.

While the archaeologists of the past tended to improvise their methods and implements, contemporary archaeologists rely on all sorts of standard tools and procedures when unearthing a dig site. First, tape measures, string, pegs and mallets are used to mark off a grid before any digging starts. Then the actual excavation is largely accomplished with trowels, shovels, hoes, rakes and pickaxes, depending on the soil type and the proximity to artifacts. Once it's time for the delicate excavation of artifacts, field diggers will bring out the knee pads or mats, comfortable gloves and all manner of precision implements. For the fine work, one might opt to employ paintbrushes, scalpels and calipers, while another excavator reaches for toothbrushes, toothpicks and chopsticks, with everyone carefully bagging any artifacts that they find. The removed dirt is often carried around in buckets and then run through a sieve. Once it's free of any remaining artifacts, it's carted off in wheelbarrows. Cameras, GPS devices, pads of paper and various writing supplies are among the other tools you might see if you visited an archaeological dig.