Glossary, Those Who Study the Past

Geologists, paleontologists, archaeologists and sometimes anthropologists dig to find their evidence. Source - Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Those who study the past share a lot — they have common interests and can often learn a lot from each other. But each of these disciplines look at different types of evidence as they draw their conclusions or form their theories about what happened and how people and animals lived in the past.

• Geologist: A scientist who studies the origin, history and structure of the earth. They study the kinds of rock that exist at different layers below the surface.
• Paleontologist: A scientist who studies the fossils, remnants or traces, of plants and animals (other than man) that are often embedded in geologic rock layers.
• Archaeologist: A scientist who studies the artifacts or material evidence of past human cultures. They are concerned with the things that people left behind before there were written records.
• Anthropologist: A scientist who studies the origin and the physical, social and cultural development and behavior of humans.
• Historian: In the broadest meaning of the word, anyone who studies the past. More specifically, an historian is a scholar who studies the documents, reports and accounts that people recorded in the past. These documents can be primary sources, like diaries, letters, photographs, newspapers, laws and other records produced as the events were happening. Or these records can be from secondary sources, what other historians have written later.