Family Archaeology

Archaeology excited me as a child. Finding treasures and learning about Egypt was fascinating. As time and archaeology go hand in hand, there was no outlet for a budding archaeologist. In the 1970's, I began to use a paper trail as a technique to unearth my ancestors with the precision of an archaeologist. We now know this science as Genealogy. With the advent of genetics, finding a connection with someone's shared genes was made much easier, especially when they existed 200 years ago.
I replaced the archaeologist's physical tools with web sites to search in many other directions to obtain information. Using these tools helped me to get to know my great grandparents in a totally new way. I was able to put together the puzzle pieces of their lives. This makes me feel much more connected to them. This has given me a great feeling of personal accomplishment.
The act of doing this is no different than being a detective, or an ancestral archaeologist. Today, the capability exists to help us to find out who are ancestors were. Genealogy, and its paper trail, are my way of realizing my desire as a child of being an archaeologist.
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