 Why Archaeology Matters? Archaeology can play a crucial role in building a society where individuals are able to tackle the challenges we face and shape the future. This is because archaeology gives us the tools to examine and explain human behavior, understand how society functions, learn from the past, and apply those lessons to the present. So, archaeology definitely has an educational importance, providing historical information on past societies. Without archaeological investigation, the history of some ancient societies would remain a mystery to us in the present day. Archaeology also has an economic importance. Local, regional, and national economies are boosted when tourists visit iconic sites and museums to learn more about the archaeological collections on display. Archaeological knowledge about past societies can be applied to present challenges. Through archaeology we can identify strategies used by different societies for living on this planet. For example, traditional farming practices can offer valid alternatives to help make industrial farming more sustainable. Recently, an Incan staple food from 5,000 years ago, quinoa, had been re-adopted. Another example is that modern-day farmers in North America have reinstituted Native American multi-cropping agriculture techniques. In this way we learn from archaeology that growing a diverse range of crops means that if climate conditions limit the growth of one crop type, they might actually favor another crop. Moreover, archaeology is also a useful tool in climate resilience as it reveals a diversity of solutions to climate change issues. For example, archaeological excavations provides data allowing us to work out how humans dealt with their environment in the past. Archaeology reveals climate adaptation strategies. For example, Australian archaeologists have shown how traditional fire management strategies can hugely reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. And so, archaeology provides us with a variety of strategies that have worked in the past. This provides us with a range of possible solutions to the problems we are facing today.