Historical archaeology is a branch of archaeology that concerns materials remains on ancient times or historical Societies. It is eminent from prehistoric archaeology (also called 'ancient archaeology'), which studies societies with no writing, and protohistoric archaeology, which studies societies with very little writing. The term is also used, especially in North America, to describe the 'post medieval' archaeology of the most recent past - from AD 1500 onwards.

Study of history uncovered much information on historic societies that they have left behind some other form of ancient evidence and also have written records. Historical archaeology remains an essential method of inquiry to supplement, support and at times overturn documentary evidence. Historical archaeologists try to discover the fabric of everyday life in the past and try to find the broader historical progress of their own and other societies.

The most visible branch of historical archaeology is Egyptology, the study of history and archaeology of Egypt, but other sub-disciplines recognized in their own right for conventional archaeology and Assyriology, which study the ancient Mediterranean and Mesopotamia, respectively. Industrial archaeology studies 18th and 19th century buildings in Europe and the United States, whilst there have also been archaeological studies of World War II defenses.

The problem is that ancient records do not cover all topics equally. Literacy was often preserves upper classes, such as the clergy and aristocracy. The general population made few records of there own, those made less likely to be preserved. The literate classes were, understandably, primarily concerned with recording their own interests. Many topics of interest to recent scholars such as economic history and religious history were widely taken for granted and not described in records.

Not all records that were written in antique have been preserved. Much of the knowledge of the Roman Empire was vanished during the early on Middle Ages, before Europe took a renewed interest in its ancestors. In addition, many of the ancient records that have survived are not primary sources. For example, the works of Cristobel's, the historian who accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns, were mostly destroyed within a few centuries and supplanted by the writings of later scholars who used him as a source.

Finally, written sources are not always truthful. Those who write about history usually have some personal involvement in that, and they may to bend the truth to cast them in a more positive light. On the other hand, it is practically impossible to systematically distort the archaeological personal involvement in that, and they may to distort the truth to cast themselves in a more positive light. On the other hand, it is practically impossible to systematically distort the archaeological record so as to imply events that never occurred.

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