Chapter 6, "Fieldwork," delves into how archaeologists get this information. Pith helmets, mummies, and golden treasure usually form the popular vision of archaeology. But fieldwork is rarely done without a purpose. That purpose involves discovery–learning what kinds of materials are present or seeking the answers to questions. Archaeology is a discipline, a science, a field of study concerned with finding answers to questions about the human past. It is the questions that archaeologists seek to answer and the problems to be resolved that drive fieldwork and the process of discovery. As the archaeologist David Thomas once said, the importance of archaeology is "not what you find, it's what you find out."
