The author defines archaeology as the study of history through its contemporary monuments and outlines a broad field extending from primeval remains to classical and medieval survivals. He describes the range of material evidence—buildings, tombs, roads, coins, inscriptions, ceramics, metalwork, and everyday objects—and surveys surviving material from Near Eastern, Greek, Roman, Celtic, Byzantine, and medieval European contexts. He explains the professorship's comprehensive remit, outlines methods of collection, excavation, and epigraphic study, and lists desirable qualifications such as precise scholarship, knowledge of alphabets, an eye for art, and natural-history acquaintance, concluding with archaeology's pleasures and its mutual enrichment of literature and modern art.