在考古学的研究对象中,有关古代物质生产活动的资料相当丰富。即使在形式上出现了所谓有文字记载的历史之后,也往往由于文献数量的限制或对其释读的困难,考古学资料仍是研究古代经济系统非常重要的、有时甚至是唯一的资料。如印度的哈拉帕文化,以及很大程度上的中美洲前阿兹台克文化就是属于这种情况。几乎毫无疑问的是,现在考古学中可以划分出两种水平的研究:一种是考古学原来意义上的或考古史料学的研究,一种是历史 In the study of archeology, the material on ancient material production activities is very rich. Even after the so-called documented history appears in the form, often due to the limitation of the number of documents or the difficulty of interpreting it, archaeological data are still very important and sometimes even the only materials for studying the ancient economic system. This is the case with the Harappan culture in India, and to a large extent the former Aztec culture in Central America. Almost no doubt, two levels of research can now be divided in archeology: one is the study of archeological or archaeological materialism and the other is history