Studying past civilizations through their structures and artifacts, including physical remains, artwork, tools and religious objects, in order to understand their history and culture is key to the subject of archeology. Students may specialize in a specific area such as geographic region, time period or type of society.

Many students earn associate degrees during their first few years of higher education. Since they usually require about two years of study, these degrees can act either as job qualifications or as precursors to more advanced degrees.