1. Human prehistory is complex. To unravel it archaeologists must employ many techniques and theories.

2. People act in a certain way, at a certain time, based on the information they have and their perception of the world around them.

3. Archaeologists can understand the actions of ancient people by the debris they leave behind, if we can separate it from those who came before and after.

4. Scientific dating of the debris helps archaeologists separate debris from many eras, provided we find as many pieces as possible.

5. Archaeologists can’t reconstruct a moment in time. We look at stronger patterns spanning broader periods of time.

6. Archaeologists can identify precisely what people ate, made and used for survival if sites are left undisturbed so we can sort out which items belong together.

7. Most sites have been occupied many times and, perhaps, in different ways.

8. Archaeologists can trace where people came from, and sometimes where they may have gone, as we accumulate more and deeper information across an area.

9. Ancient people changed; they did not always remain the same. For example, knowing what they ate isn’t good enough, since the amount they ate probably changed many times through prehistory. Archaeologists must reconstruct many points in time, and then look for evolutionary patterns.

10. Please leave artifacts and archaeological sites alone–unless you are directed by archaeologists with clear goals, and with the finances, time and determination to complete the analysis and publication of the data you collect.

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