Archaeology derives its name from the Greek words, "archaious" meaning “ancient” and “logos” or ‘knowledge’. Hence, etymologically it should mean, “the science of ancient things”. But the word has taken on a slightly different meaning and is defined as a branch of knowledge dealing with the “remains of ancient human activity”. There are many things ancient in India, the scriptures, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata for example, but their study directly and by forms no part of archaeology unless, of course, they are “unearthed in some form or other as material relics of the activities of the ancient man.”