Archeology is called the science studying the historical past of mankind on material sources to which instruments of production and material benefits created with their help belong: weapon, constructions, jewelry, works of art, ware, i.e. result of work of the person.
The archeology plays an important role when studying eras when there was no writing in general, or in the history of the people at which writing appeared in later historical time. Material sources do not contain the direct story about history therefore the historical conclusions based on them are a result of scientific reconstruction. By means of archeology the time and spatial horizon of history strongly extended. Writing exists about 5000 years, and all previous period (about 2 million years) became known thanks to development of this science. However, and written sources (linear Greek letter, the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Babylon cuneiform writing) were opened by archeologists. The science has important value also for eras in which there was already writing, for studying ancient and medieval history since the data obtained from material sources, very much supplement written data. At archeology the special methods of a research. By means of a stratigraphic method the historians watch alternation of cultural layers which were postponed as a result of long dwelling in one place of people, and establish a chronological ratio of these layers. The typological method serves for chronological classification. The things got at excavation classify by the following signs: purpose of a subject, place and time of its production. Besides purely archaeological methods, at excavation apply also other ways borrowed from various sciences: establishment of absolute and relative dates on annual growth rings of trees, dating of fossils on the content of radioactive carbon, establishment of age of the things made of the burned clay. Also when studying ancient objects the metallography, the spectral analysis, technical petrography, etc. are applied.