General Archaeological Resources

If you are interested in archaeology but don't know how to sift through the huge amount of content online, or if you want to get aquainted with a particular site, these links are a great place to start.

The AIA's Education page offers a huge amount of material, including a general introduction to archaeology, lesson plans for teaching archaeology in the K–12 classoom, suggested books for beginners, and information on the AIA's archaeology fairs. The Archaeology 101 PDF is a great overview of the discipline.

Archaeology at About.com: The very basics for the very beginner.

An Introduction to Classical Archaeology from the Ohio State University: This page is a good introduction to classical archaeology, but it also covers the basics of archaeology as a whole.

Archaeological news from around the world from Archaeology magazine, updated every weekday.

Ara Pacis Augustae: An enormous collection of large, clear images of the Ara Pacis in Rome. You can examine closely every part of the monument through photographs, reconstructions, drawings, and accompanying text.

The Art of Making: Stoneworking in the Roman World: This project, begun in July 2011, looks at carving techniques in Roman stoneworking and will eventually offer a web resource and photographic collection.

BBC History: The BBC has an overview of archaeology. There are also sections on ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and more. If you are new to these areas and topics, this is a great place to start learning. It's easy to browse, and it includes some educational games for younger visitors.

Digital Collections from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens: Includes books, journals, photographs, notebooks, personal papers, maps, and scientific data sets.

Corinthian Matters: Part resource, part blog. This site covers every aspect of the study of Corinthia and includes news, dicussion, images and maps, and archaeological research. Category tags make browsing for content quick and easy.

Institute of Nautical Archaeology: This organization seeks to document, excavate, and preserve underwater archaeological sites worldwide. This excellent website hosts plenty of content on their projects and publications and much about underwater archaeology in general.

Maecenas: Images of Ancient Greece and Rome: Countless photographs by Leo C. Curran, also featuring images of sites outside Greece and Rome. You can browse by location as well as monument.

Ostia - Harbour City of Ancient Rome: This website has been around since 1996, and with its reconstruction videos, a topographical dictionary, footage of old excavations, and extensive text, it is a unique introduction to the complete context of an archaeological site.

Aegean Prehistoric Archaeology: On-line textbook, database, and bibliographic resource on Aegean Prehistory from the Department of Classics at Dartmouth College.

Troy: An introduction to this complex site. Watch the video, view timelines, and learn the facts behind the legends.