Home About us Products Services Contact us Bookmark
:: wikimiki.org ::
Tomb Raider 3

Tomb Raider 3

Tomb Raider is a 1996 video game originally published by Eidos Interactive and developed by Core Design. The game features the video game character Lara Croft, a buxom female archaeologist in search of ancient treasures, à la Indiana Jones. There have been several sequels.

Video games

sequel sequel sequel sequel Tomb Raider and its heroine, archaeologist/adventurer Lara Croft, have become modern icons of the computer game industry. Thought the first game was released almost ten years ago, Lara's image is still just as recognizable, and attractive, as ever. The original game, titled "Tomb Raider: Featuring Lara Croft," debuted on the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and PC. It was one of the titles responsible for PlayStation success in the mid nineties. The games present a world in 3D: a series of tombs, and other locations, through which the player must guide Lara. On the way, she must kill dangerous animals and other creatures, while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to an ultimate prize, usually a powerful artifact. In later games, Lara's targets become predominantly human, which has sparked some criticism from gamers who feel the games are becoming too violent. Tomb Raider is an earlier example of the 3D genre. The game is a third-person shooter since Lara is always visible. The player's camera follows her, usually over her shoulder or from behind. The game is characterized by the cubic nature of the world in which Lara inhabits. Ledges, walls and ceilings sit at 90 degrees to each other, although the game designers use some clever tricks to make this less obvious. A reason for this orthogonality can be explained by the fact the creators took the 2D platform game genre and extended it to a 3D world. This is shown through Tomb Raider's gameplay, which is very reminiscent of older platform games like Prince of Persia, Out of this World, and Flashback that had a heavy focus on timed jumping interspersed with combat. Each game has introduced new weapons and moves; by the fourth game, Lara could backflip off ropes and turn around in mid-air to grab a ledge behind her. The most recent game, "Tomb Raider: Legend," has introduced a grappling hook that Lara can use to make her own rope-swings, and also attack enemies Indiana-whip style. Included with the PC and Mac releases of Tomb Raider Chronicles was a level editor which allowed players to create their own levels for use with the previous Tomb Raider game engine, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. Fan-built levels are distributed via Tomb Raider fan sites and forums. The following versions have been released so far, listed in chronological order:
- Tomb Raider (1996) - PlayStation, Sega Saturn, PC, N-Gage
  - Tomb Raider: The Atlantean Scion (Peru, Greece/Rome, Egypt, Atlantis)
  - Tomb Raider: Unfinished Business (Add-on: Egypt, Atlantis)
- Tomb Raider II (1997) - PlayStation, PC
  - Tomb Raider: The Dagger of Xian (China, Venice, Sunken Ship, Tibet)
  - Tomb Raider: The Golden Mask (Add-on: Alaska)
- Tomb Raider III (1998) - PlayStation, PC
  - Tomb Raider: Adventures of Lara Croft (India, Nevada, London, South Pacific, Antarctica)
  - Tomb Raider: The Lost Artifact (Add-on: Scotland, Chunnel, France)
- Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (Introduction levels: Cambodia, Game: Egypt) (1999) - PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast, PC
- Tomb Raider Chronicles (Rome, Russia, Ireland, New York City) (2000) - PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast, PC
- Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (Paris & Prague) (2003) - PlayStation 2, PC
- Tomb Raider: Legend (scheduled March 2006: Peru, Ghana, Mesopotamia?, Taiwan?) - PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PC (possibly PSP) In addition to these Tomb Raider games, there are 2D versions on the Game Boy Color handheld console:
- Tomb Raider: The Nightmare Stone (2000)
- Tomb Raider: Curse of the Sword (2001) and one for the Game Boy Advance:
- Tomb Raider: Prophecy (2002) In 1998, Tomb Raider won the Origins Award for Best Action Computer Game of 1997. Origins Award

Story

Tomb Raider

Origins Award Adventurer Lara Croft has been hired to recover the pieces of an ancient artifact known as the Scion. Lara has just returned from a hunting trip in the Himalayas. She's contacted by Jacqueline Natla, a conniving businesswoman who convinces Lara to recover a mysterious artifact from the tomb of Qualopec in Peru. Wasting no time, Lara sets out on her quest to find one of the three pieces of the ancient Atlantean Scion, a talisman of incredible power. After discovering the fragment, things get ugly when Lara finds herself face to face with one of Natla's hired goons. Using her cunning wits and athletic strength, Lara escapes. As she delves into the reasons why Natla would double-cross her, she uncovers a mystery that reaches back before the dawn of recorded time to the treachery that destroyed the Atlantean civilization and the disasters that struck the world when it fell. Lara visits:
- Vilcabamba: A civilization that flourished for hundreds of years in the Peruvian rainforests of South America. Guide Lara through the lost Incan city while battling wolves, bats, bears, raptors, and more.
- Labryinth: The Golden Age of Greece, and later Rome. Here Lara battles lions, alligators, crazy monkeys and more as she explores ruins of this ancient civilization.
- Egypt: Where the vast power of Egypt rose with the pyramids. Lara explores buried pyramids and a hidden sphinx while fighting pumas, crocodiles, and some surprising mystical monsters.
- Atlantis: The pyramid of Atlantis where the mystery unfolds.
- Lara's home is also present as a training level.

Tomb Raider II

Atlantis Join Lara as she searches for The Dagger of Xian: an artifact hidden in an ancient Emperor's palace within the Great Wall of China. Legend has it that whoever drives the Dagger of Xian into their heart, acquires the power of the Dragon. Three parties covet this dagger — but for entirely different reasons. Lara Croft, forever the adventurer, is one of these. On her travels she will encounter the other two ... Lara visits:
- The Great Wall of China where Lara will fight tigers, birds and spiders to find the doors of the Emperor's palace.
- Venice where Lara will swim through the city canals and visit some houses and an opera.
- An Offshore Rig, from which Lara must find a way out.
- The wreck of the Maria Doria, taking Lara underwater to a ship wreck.
- Tibetan Foothills with their cold climate.
- Temple of Xian where the mystical dagger is found.
- Lara's home is also present as a training level.

Tomb Raider III

Xian Millions of years ago, a meteor survived the plunge through the Earth's atmosphere, impacting the then-warm climate of Antarctica. The first people to discover this land were a tribe of Polynesians. Despite the now-freezing conditions, there was an abnormal abundance of life and the tribe settled, worshipping the meteorite crater for the powers it appeared to hold. Generations later, though, catastrophic events forced them to flee in terror. Today, the same area is being excavated by the research company RX Tech, who are picking up unusual readings from the meteorite's impact zone. It is in this zone that they uncover the body of a sailor from Charles Darwin's voyage on the Beagle. It seems a few of his sailors had explored the interior of the crater. Following a story from one of the sailors' journal, RX Tech have started to take a particular interest in not only the crater area, but other parts of the globe where the sailors traveled to...and died in. One of these places is India - where Lara is currently searching for the legendary Infada artifact. Unaware of its true history, she only knows that in local beliefs it was supposed to hold great powers and has been revered by tribes there throughout the years. Soon she will discover a whole lot more... Lara visits:
- India. This part of the game takes Lara into a jungle and then into a mistical temple ruins. She also rides along the river Ganges and goes into the caves of Kaliya.
- South Pacific Islands. Among beautiful scenery Lara fights tribal warriors, finds a crashed plane, swims through a river on a kayak and goes into the Temple of Puna.
- Nevada where Lara tries to get into the secret Area 51.
- London. Lara crosses rooftops, goes down into the subway and later visits the British Natural History Museum.
- Antarctica. Lara travels through the mines into the Lost City of Tinnos and then to the meteorite cavern where the story ends.
- Lara's home is also present as a training level.

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation

Antarctica According to Egyptian legend, Horus, son of the light, outwitted the evil god Set and imprisoned him in a secret tomb... Five thousand years later, Lara Croft discovers the lost tomb and unwittingly unleashes the evil god, fulfilling the ancient prophecy of his return to plunge mankind into darkness. In a race against time, Lara must use all of her wit and skill to reimprison Set and save the world from Armageddon. Pursued at every turn by her arch-rival, the unscrupulous archaeologist Werner Von Croy, Lara embarks on a journey of discovery across Egypt, where she must overcome the most ingenious puzzles and infernal traps ever devised, and face terrifying evil from beyond the grave... Lara visits:
- Cambodia. Young Lara is trained by her mentor Werner Von Croy in how to pass obstacles of the Angkor Wat temple.
- Egypt. The rest of the game takes place here. Lara visits many places: inter alia, the Tomb of Set, the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Karnak, the Great Hypostyle Hall, the Tomb of Semerkhet, Alexandria, the Temple of Poseidon, the Lost Library, the Temple of Isis, Cleopatra's Palaces, the Sphinx Complex, Menkaure's Pyramid, The Mastabas, the Great Pyramid and the Temple of Horus. She will also ride a train.

Tomb Raider Chronicles

Horus The story begins just a few days after The Last Revelation. Lara's body has never been found, but she is presumed dead. After her burial ceremony, three old friends of Lara, Jean Yves, Winston and priest Dunstan, reminisce about Lara's earlier adventures. The game consists of four new sub-adventures and bring Lara back in time to Rome, a small Irish island, a high-tech building and a Russian submarine. Each adventure requires its specific game characteristics. In Ireland Lara has to find her way without any weapons, whereas the Russian sub can be compared to an episode of the X-files. Rome is said to be the classical Tomb Raider action, and in the high tech building the keyword is stealth. Lara visits:
- Rome where she fights lions and gladiators to recover the original Philosopher's Stone.
- Russia where Lara breaks into a military base and then into a submarine.
- Ireland where a teenage Lara steals away on a boat bound for the Black Isle, facing ghosts and evil spirits once she arrives.
- In the VC Industries building Lara fights her way to the artefact called the "Iris" which had been taken from the Angkor Wat Temple by Werner Von Croy in The Last Revelation, during the training level set when Lara was 16.

Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness

Werner Von Croy Accused of the murder of her former mentor, Werner Von Croy, Lara becomes a fugitive. Pursued by the police, she follows clues left behind by Von Croy and unravels the mysteries surrounding a series of grisly murders called the Monstrum killings — of which Von Croy's is only one. The trail of murders and strange occurrences in the Paris underworld brings Lara into conflict with a dark Alchemist named Eckhardt and a sinister alliance of powerful dark sorcerers (or alchemists) called the Cabal. At the center of these mysteries are the Obscura Paintings - five 14th century pieces of religious art that Eckhardt is desperate to reposses. The paintings are said to conceal pieces of a powerful artefact which is said to have the power to revive the Sleeper: the last of the ancient Nephilim race, offspring of humans and angels, originating in Turkey. Lara must now find the remaining paintings and stop Eckhardt. Lara visits:
- Paris, where Lara runs from the police, meets Von Croy's friend Margot Carvier, goes to a club, and finally visits the Louvre and a secret tomb beneath it.
- Prague, where Lara needs to get into Mathias Vasiley's apartment (he is the victim of a Monstrum Killing, and is mentioned in Von Croy's notes).
- The Bio Research Facility. This features the first level in the Tomb Raider series where the player plays a different viewpoint character, Kurtis Trent. On the way to Eckhardt's Lab the player visits the Vault of Trophies - an underwater cave with gigantic statues.

Tomb Raider: Legend

Kurtis Trent Lara will find herself globe-trotting as usual, rivalled every step of the way by corrupt forces led by a nemesis from her past, as she searches for a valuable English artifact. Lara visits:
- Ghana, Russia, Bolivia, Peru, Malaysia, and the City of Tokyo Tomb Raider: Legend will be the first Tomb Raider game to be handled by different developers. This time, the job has been given to Crystal Dynamics (whose credits include the Legacy of Kain series) after the bad reviews The Angel of Darkness received. Core Design, the developer of the first six Tomb Raider games, was subsequently sacked by Eidos. Lara's original creator, Toby Gard, is also working on Tomb Raider: Legend. Toby left Core after the first game due to creative differences between himself and Core executives in regard to Lara's over-sexualized image.

Nude Raider

A development in Lara's history is the so-called Nude Raider patch. It is alleged that someone within Eidos created the patch then released it on the Eidos website back in 1996, where it remained for a few hours until Eidos discovered it and removed the patch. However, many people downloaded the patch and uploaded it to different websites. This program, when added to an existing Tomb Raider game, caused Lara to appear naked, which was popular among a certain proportion of gamers. In April 2004, an insider from Eidos reported to a Tomb Raider electronic mailing list that Eidos had begun suing gamers using the Nude Raider patches and sent cease and desist letters to servers hosting the Nude Raider patch, enforcing their intellectual property of Tomb Raider. It is also reported that Eidos intend to pursue action against unauthorized "home-made" patches for the game, and indeed any other games that the publisher has ownership rights to. However, the complete accuracy of such reports may be called into question, as it is likely that the rumors are exaggerated to an extent.

Spinoffs

Movies

Most recently, the idea of Tomb Raider has been extended beyond being just a video game, including the 2001 movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the 2003 sequel Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, both starring Angelina Jolie. A fair percentage of fans of the game argue that the movie adaptations are a poor tribute to their video game heritage, though Jolie, after some initial published criticism mostly centered around her being an American playing a British character, was considered an ideal choice for the role of Lara Croft. Plans for a third movie were revealed in early 2004, but according to CNN they were cancelled due to the box office failure of The Cradle of Life.

Comic books

CNN Tomb Raider has been licensed to Top Cow Productions, which published a large number of Tomb Raider stories in comic book form. There have also been frequent crossovers with another Top Cow publication, Witchblade.

Original novels

Ballantine Books, in conjunction with Eidos, began publishing a series of original novels based upon the video game in the spring of 2004, beginning with The Amulet of Power by Mike Resnick, which was followed by The Lost Cult by E. E. Knight in August 2004 and the violent The Man of Bronze by James Alan Gardner in January 2005. These books generally follow the continuity of the video games (particularly Angel of Darkness) rather than the movies, although Lost Cult does contain a couple of oblique references to Cradle of Life. Man of Bronze differs from the first two books in that it is told in first person from Lara Croft's point of view; it is also considerably more violent. Ballantine's contract only called for three novels, and it is not yet known if the book series will continue.

Tomb Raider Level Editor

The Tomb Raider Level editor is a tool released by Eidos with the game Tomb Raider Chronicles in late 2000. Since then it has enabled players to design new levels of their own, set in locations from the original games or in new locations. In the years after its initial release, there have been many programs released by amateurs designed to enhance and expand the level-editor's capabilities. These "tools" enable a designer to create and sort their own texture files, and to change, create, combine, or animate objects and sounds in a level, among other things. Some people are involved with the level editor, but never actually build levels. Instead, they compose high-quality music, provide voice-overs, design outfits, enemies, and objects for use by any level-builder. In fact, modified versions of outfits and objects appearing in the two most recent Tomb Raider games, The Angel of Darkness and Tomb Raider: Legend, appeared before the games themselves hit the shelves. In the middle of year 2003, members of the Eidos Tomb Raider forums held a petiton requesting Eidos to release the Tomb Raider Level Editor source code. This petition, started by the forum moderator, Dhama, was a failed attempt. Even though it was ignored by Eidos, hundreds continued to sign it until the end of 2004. The Level Editor Community is still very active, and high quality level sets are released every few months. Many have observed that the custom levels look better than the official levels, because they are built with passion by the fans themselves. Currently there are [http://www.trle.net more than one thousand six hundred custom levels released on the internet] and there are many highly anticipated levels which are in the making. Level designers often release previews of their levels, using screen-shots and movies. Each month, the German Tomb Raider community website, [http://www.laraslevelbase.org Lara's Levelbase] publishes an online magazine about upcoming levels and interviews, called the Tomb Raider Tribune. Even before the official Level Editor was released, an unofficial Level Editor had been designed by Tomb Raider fans. This impressive creation had been growing alongside with the official community, but was often considered forgotten, though there are many unofficial custom levels, including some for Tomb Raider Chronicles. Some of the custom levels have been recognised by the Tomb Raider community as truly excellent, and have been placed in a "Hall of Fame" page here: http://trle.horus-online.net/

External links


- [http://www.tombraider.com Tomb Raider] - Official site.
- [http://www.tombraiders.net Tombraiders.net] - Unofficial walkthrough/FAQ site
- [http://www.check-tombraider.tk Check Tomb Raider] - Unofficial walkthrough&cheats site with a lot of information. Check it out! In Dutch and English
- Gallery of [http://abcovers.free.fr/index.php?option=com_ponygallery&Itemid=0&func=viewcategory&catid=8 Tomb Raider] covers by A. Hughes
- [http://www.laracroft.name LaraCroft.Name] - All about Tomb Raider and Lara Croft
- [http://www.larainmotion.com Lara in Motion] - Tomb Raider related media
- [http://www.trcomm.net TRComm.Net] - Tomb Raider Community - The Raiders' Portal
- [http://www.tombraider4u.com Tomb Raider] - Unofficial fan site.
- [http://www.funkylyida.com Lydia's Tomb Raider Site] - Enemies, Screenshots and other info.
- [http://www.trsearch.org TRSearch] - Unofficial site about level editor
- [http://www.tombraidergirl.com tombraidergirl.com] - Unofficial site.
- [http://www.laracroftonline.com Lara Croft Online Tomb Raider: Tomb Raider 7]
- [http://wikiraider.tombraidergirl.net Wiki Raider]
- [http://www.tombraiderinc.com Tomb Raider Inc.] - Unofficial site.
- [http://www.planetlara.com Planet Lara]
- [http://www.tombraiderchronicles.com Tomb Raider Chronicles]
- [http://www.tombnews.com Tomb Raider News Channel]
- [http://dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Action-Adventure/Tomb_Raider_Series Open Directory Project: Tomb Raider Series]
- [http://www.tombraider.be the netherlands and belgium fansite of TombRaider]
- [http://www.tombraider.hu TombRaider.hu] - Unofficial Hungarian site
- [http://www.traider.pl TRaider.pl] - Unofficial Polish site
- [http://www.laracroftsite.bravehost.com Lara Croft Site] - Unofficial site.
- [http://www.trle.net trle.net] - Tomb Raider Level Editor Listings, Ratings and Reviews
- [http://www.tratlantis.com TRatlantis.com] - Finnish Tomb Raider site
- [http://www.larashome.com/forums Lara's Home] - Forum with a huge emphasis on custom levels. Website coming in 2006.
- [http://www.dreamlara.com DreamLara] - A Mainland Chinese Tomb Raider unofficial site. (Simplified Chinese)
- [http://harlytr.larashome.com Tomb Raider Resource Site] - A Taiwanese Tomb Raider Level Builder, Harly Wuson's Tomb Raider Site (Traditional Chinese)
- [http://www.geckokid.net GeckoKid.net] - A Hong Kong Tomb Raider Builder's personal website.
- [http://www.mobygames.com/game_group/sheet/gameGroupId,68/ Tomb Raider at MobyGames]
- [http://www.gamespot.com/features/tombraider_hist/index.html The History of Tomb Raider]

See also


- Indiana Jones
- Relic Hunter Category:Action-adventure games Category:Computer and video game franchises Category:Third-person shooters Category:Media franchises Category:Eidos Interactive games Category:1996 computer and video games Category:1997 computer and video games Category:1998 computer and video games Category:1999 computer and video games Category:2000 computer and video games Category:2003 computer and video games Category:Origins award winners Category:Fictional universes Category:Apple Macintosh games Category:Novels based on computer and video games ja:トゥームレイダー

1996

1996 (MCMXCVI) is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty.

Events

January


- January 5 - Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone.
- January 7 - One of the worst blizzards in American history hits eastern states, killing more than 100.
- January 8 - Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital Kinshasa - 350 dead.
- January 9 - Assassination of Eric Hebborn, art forger, in Rome, Italy.
- January 14 - Jorge Sampaio is elected president of Portugal.
- January 20 - Yasser Arafat is re-elected president of the Palestinian Authority.
- January 22 - Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece resigns due to health problems. New government forms under Costas Simitis.
- January 24 - Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charge he spied for Moscow.
- January 26 - Whitewater scandal: Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies before a grand jury.
  - US millionaire John Dupont shoots wrestler David Schultz
- January 27 - Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane, in a military coup.
- January 29
  - President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear testing.
  - Fire destroys La Fenice, Venice's opera house.
  - A Greek flag is hoisted above Kardac Rocks, initiating the Imia-Kardak crisis
- Duke Nukem 3D Shareware released to public
- January 30 - Leader of the Irish National Liberation Army Gino Gallagher is killed, in an internal feud, while in line for his unemployment benefit.
- January 30 - February 5 - Sarah Balabagan caned in the United Arab Emirates
- January 31 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.

February


- February - Iraq disarmament crisis: Recently defected Iraqi weapons program leader and son-in-law to Saddam Hussein, Hussein Kamel, returns to Iraq. Within days of his return, he is murdered along with his brother, father, sister and her children. Kamel had forced Iraq to reveal portions of its illegal nuclear and chemical weapons programs.
- February 1 - Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
- February 4 - Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin ties all-time low temperature at -26°F. (-32°C)
- February 8 - The Telecom Reform Act is signed into law by United States President Bill Clinton.
- February 9 - IRA ceasefire ends with 1 one-ton bomb in London's Canary Wharf District - 2 dead.
- February 10 - Chess computer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov for the first time.
- February 17 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beats the "Deep Blue" supercomputer in a chess match.
- February 18 - IRA briefcase bomb in London bus kills the bomber and injures 9 in London West End.
- February 29 - Daniel Green convicted of murder of James R. Jordan, the father of basketball star Michael Jordan.

March

Michael Jordan.]]
- March - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi forces refuse UNSCOM inspection teams access to five sites designated for inspection. The teams enter the sites only after delays of up to 17 hours.
- March 2 - John Howard is elected Prime Minister of Australia in a landslide election victory, over the Labor Party's Paul Keating.
- March 13 - The Dunblane Massacre.
- March 17 - Sri Lanka win the Cricket World Cup by storming to a famous victory against the tournament favourites Australia.
- March 19 - Sarajevo becomes a united city again when Bosnian authorities took control of the last district held by Serbs.
- March 20
  - In Los Angeles, California, Lyle and Erik Menendez are found guilty of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of their parents.
  - The British Government announces that Bovine spongiform encephalopathy was likely to have been transmitted to people.
- March 23 - The Republic of China on Taiwan holds its first direct elections for president. Lee Teng-hui is reelected.
- March 25 - An 81-day long standoff between antigovernment Freemen in Jordan, Montana and federal officers begins.
- March 26 - The International Monetary Fund approves a $10.2 billion loan to Russia for 'economic reform'.
- March 28 - Fire breaks out at the Pasar Anyar shopping centre in Bogor, West Java. First estimated death toll is 78 until rescuers notice that 68 of them are mannequins
- March 30 - The Kennett government is re-elected in Victoria with a 30 seat majority.

April


- April 2 - US Mafioso John Gotti is found guilty of murder of Paul Castellano
- April 3 - Plane carrying US commerce secretary Ron Brown crashes near Dubrovnik, Croatia
- April 3
  - Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his Montana cabin.
  - The first EuroHowl is held in Aberystwyth, Wales.
  - A Lunar eclipse occurred.
- April 10 - United States President Bill Clinton vetos a bill that would have banned partial-birth abortion.
- April 18 - Over 100 Lebanese civilians were killed after Israel shelled the UN compound in Qana. See Qana Massacre.
- April 28 - Martin Bryant kills 35 people as part of the Port Arthur Massacre, at the Port Arthur tourist site, Tasmania, Australia.
- April 29 - Official opening of Rent (musical) on Broadway.

May


- May 10 - A sudden storm engulfs Mount Everest with several climbing teams high on the mountain, leaving 8 dead. By the end of the month, at least four other climbers die in the worst season of fatalities on the mountain to date.
- May 11 - After taking-off from Miami, a fire started by improperly-handled oxygen canisters in the cargo hold of Atlanta-bound ValuJet Flight 592 causes the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 on board.
- May 13 - Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kills 600.
- May 20 - Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of homosexuals.
- May 23 - Swede Göran Kropp reaches Mount Everest summit alone without oxygen after having bicycled there from Sweden.
- May 27 - First Chechnya War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire in the war.
- May 27 - Doctor Who makes its return to British television for the first time since 1989. Paul McGann starred in the US made movie which pitted the Doctor against Eric Roberts' Master.
- May 31 - id Software releases the first person shooter computer game Quake.
- May-June - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM supervises the destruction of Al-Hakam, Iraq's main production facility of biological warfare agents.
- May - The Onion launches its satirical news publication on the Internet.

June


- June - Iraq disarmament crisis: As Iraq continues to refuse inspectors access to a number of sites, the U.S. fails in its attempt to build support for military action against Iraq in the UN Security Council.
- June 1 - Tennessee celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
- June 10 - Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without Sinn Féin
- June 12 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a panel of federal judges blocks a law against indecency on the internet. The panel says that the 1996 Communications Decency Act would infringe upon the free speech rights of adults.
- June 13 - An 81-day standoff between the Freemen and FBI agents ends with their surrender in Montana.
- June 15- A large bomb explosion devastates Manchester City Centre in England.
- June 25 - 19 U.S. servicemen are killed at Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.
- June 30 - Costas Simitis is elected President of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement of Greece.
- June 30 - Germany beat the Czech Republic 2-1 with a Golden goal to win Euro 96.

July

Euro 96
- July - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.N. Inspector Ritter attempts to conduct surprise inspections on the Republican Guard facility at the airport, but is blocked by Iraqi officials.
- July 1 - The Northern Territory in Australia legalises voluntary euthanasia.
- July 5 - Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell, is born. It will prematurely die in February 2003.
- July 8 - Martina Hingis youngest person in history (age 15 years and 282 days) to win at Wimbledon (Ladies Doubles event).
- July 8 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu purportedly receives a hand-delivered document, "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Security the Realm," spelling out how Israel could abrogate the Oslo Accords, and pursue a permanent annexation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, among other policies. The paper had been prepared for him by Richard Perle, Donald Rumsfeld, Doug Feith, David Wurmser and John R. Bolton.
- July 17 - Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound Boeing 747 carrying TWA flight 800 explodes killing all 230 on board.
- July 18 - 21 - Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River in Quebec, in one of Canada's most costly natural disasters.
- July 19 - The 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, is opened by US president Bill Clinton.
- July 27 - The Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics kills one and injures 111.
- July 29 - The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act (1996) is struck down as too broad by a US federal court.
- July 31 - MIL-STD-1750A was declared inactive for use in new designs.

August

The Detroit of India and port city Madras is renamed Chennai.
- August 1 - Sarah Balabagan returns to the Philippines
- August 4 - The closing ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics takes place.
- August 6 - NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms
- August 6 - Australian census
- August 6 - The Ramones play their last show ever at Lollapalooza.
- August 13 - Data sent back by the Galileo space probe indicated there may be water on one of Jupiter's moons
- August 28 - Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales, are formally divorced at the High Court in London. Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales is restyled, Diana, Princess of Wales.
- August 31 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi forces launch an offensive into the northern No-Fly Zone and capture Arbil.

September


- September 4 - War on Drugs: Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare, Colombia starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare that will claim the lives of at least 130 Colombians.
- September 7 - Rapper Tupac Shakur shot in Las Vegas, Nevada following Mike Tyson bout. He would succumb 6 nights later on September 13.
- September 11 - Aubrey Berryhill and Ashton Cayado won the Nobel prize.
- September 22 - The Panhellenic Socialist Movement under the leadership of Costas Simitis succeeds in the Greek legislative election, 1996.
- September 25 - The last of the Magdalen Asylums was closed in Ireland.
- September 25 - Nicu Ceauşescu dies from cirrhosis of the liver in a Viennese hospital. He was the younger son of Nicolae Ceauşescu.
- September 27 - In Afghanistan, the Taliban capture capital city Kabul after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah.

October


- October 2 - The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
- October 2 - Assassination of the former prime minister of Bulgaria, Andrei Lukanov
- October 14 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 40.62 to close at 6,010.00 -- The Dow's first close above 6,000.
- October 23 - Opening statements in the O.J. Simpson civil trial begin.
- October 30 - Fighting erupts when Banyamulenga Tutsis of Laurent Kabila in Zaire seize Uvira and proceed to kill Hutu refugees

November


- November - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM inspectors uncover buried prohibited missile parts. Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM teams to remove remnants of missile engines for analysis outside of the country
- November 5 - U.S. presidential election, 1996: Democrat incumbent Bill Clinton defeats Republican challenger Bob Dole to win his second term.
- November 7 - NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor.
- November 15 - Alger Hiss, former U.S. State Department official
- November 16 - Mother Teresa receives honorary US citizenship.
- November 18 - World-renowned bird expert Tony Silva is sentenced to seven years in prison without parole for leading an illegal parrot smuggling ring.
- November 19 - U.S President Bill Clinton makes a visit to Australia in which he addresses both Houses of Parliament
- November 23 - The Republic of Angola officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Angola.
- November 25 - The U.S. stock markets, especially the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gains at an incredibly fast pace following the 1996 Presidential elections. It gains 10 days in a row during the month (a feat that hasn't been touched as of June 2005), and burned through five century marks:
  - 6,100 on November 6
  - 6,200 the next day
  - 6,300 on November 14
  - 6,400 on November 20
  - 6,500 today

December


- December 2 - US President Bill Clinton signs Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments.
- December 5 - Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan gives a speech in which he suggests that "irrational exuberance" may have "unduly escalated asset values".
- December 12 - Uday Hussein is seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
- December 17 - Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement takes 72 hostages in Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru
- December 26 - JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old beauty queen, was found murdered in her family's basement in Boulder, Colorado.
- December 27 - Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram air base which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul.
- December 29 - Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord that ends a 36 year a civil war
- December 30 - In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo separatists killing 26.
- December 30 - Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.

Environmental change


- The invasive species Asian long-horned beetle is found in New York

Unknown date


- Ask Jeeves formed.
- General Motors EV1 launched. The EV1 is the first electric car to go into mass production.

Births


- February 9 - Jimmy Bennett, American actor
- July 5 - Dolly the sheep, first cloned mammal (d. 2003)
- November 3 - Aria Wallace, American actor

Deaths

January-February


- January 2 - Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1915)
- January 5 - Yahya Ayyash, Palestinian terrorist (b. 1966)
- January 8 - François Mitterrand, President of France (b. 1916)
- January 17 - Barbara Jordan, American politician (b. 1936)
- January 18 - Leonor Fini, Argentine artist (b. 1908)
- January 20 - Gerry Mulligan, American musician (b. 1927)
- January 28 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1940)
- January 28 - Jerry Siegel, American cartoonist (b. 1914)
- February 2 - Gene Kelly, American actor (b. 1912)
- February 3 - Audrey Meadows, American actress (b. 1926)
- February 6 - Guy Madison, American actor (b. 1922)
- February 7 - Boris Alexandrovich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (b. 1925)
- February 11 - Kebby Musokotwane, Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1946)
- February 11 - Cyril Poole, English cricketer (b. 1921)
- February 11 - Phil Regan, American actor (b. 1906)
- February 11 - Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet (b. 1930)
- February 11 - Bob Shaw, British writer (b. 1931)
- February 16 - Edmund G. Brown, Governor of California (b. 1905)
- February 16 - Brownie McGhee, American musician (b. 1915)
- February 20 - Tōru Takemitsu, Japanese composer (b. 1930)
- February 21 - Morton Gould, American musician and composer (b. 1913)
- February 25 - Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian actor (murdered) (b. 1940)
- February 26 - Moisei Vainberg, Polish composer (b. 1919)

March-June


- March 3 - Marguerite Duras, French author and director (b. 1914)
- March 4 - Minnie Pearl, American comedienne (b. 1912)
- March 9 - George Burns, American actor and singer (b. 1896)
- March 13 - Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish film director (b. 1941)
- March 16 - Charlie Barnett, American actors (b. 1954)
- March 17 - René Clément, French film director (b. 1913)
- March 18 - Odysseas Elytis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- March 26 - David Packard, American engineer (b. 1912)
- April 3 - Carl Stokes, American politician (b. 1927)
- April 4 - Barney Ewell, American athlete (b. 1918)
- April 4 - Larry LaPrise, American songwriter (b. 1912)
- April 6 - Greer Garson, English actress (b. 1904)
- April 20 - Christopher Robin Milne, English author and bookseller (b. 1920)
- April 22 - Erma Bombeck, American humorist and writer (b. 1927)
- April 26 - Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1918)
- May 5 - Salli Terri, Canadian mezzo-soprano (b. 1922)
- May 15 - Charles B. Fulton, American judge (b. 1910)
- May 17 - Kevin Gilbert, American musician, composer, and record producer (b. 1966)
- May 20 - Jon Pertwee, British actor (b. 1919)
- May 24 - Jacob Druckman, American composer (b. 1928)
- May 24 - Joseph Mitchell, American writer (b. 1908)
- May 25 - Brad Nowell, American musician (b. 1968)
- May 31 - Paul Peter Piech, American artist (b. 1920)
- June 2 - Ray Combs, American game show host and comedian (suicide) (b. 1956)
- June 2 - Leon Garfield, English children's author (b. 1921)
- June 6 - George Davis Snell, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- June 15 - Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (b. 1917)
- June 17 - Thomas Kuhn, American philosopher of science (b. 1922)
- June 19 - G. David Schine, American investigator and businessman (b. 1927)
- June 23 - Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1919)

July-December


- July 1 - William T. Cahill, America politician (b. 1912)
- July 10 - Alan Blakley, British musician (Tremeloes) (b. 1942)
- July 15- Dana Hill, American actress (b. 1964)
- July 20 - Frantisek Planicka, Czech footballer (b. 1904)
- July 28 - Roger Tory Peterson, American naturalist and artist (b. 1908)
- July 30 - Claudette Colbert, French actress (b. 1903)
- August 1 - Tadeus Reichstein, Polish-born chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1897)
- August 8 - Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- August 11 - Rafael Kubelik, Czech-born conductor (b. 1914)
- August 13 - David Tudor, American pianist and composer (b. 1926)
- September 1 - Vagn Holmboe, Danish composer (b. 1909)
- September 13 - Tupac Shakur, American rapper, poet, and actor (b. 1971)
- October 4 - Silvio Piola, Italian footballer (b. 1913)
- October 16 - Eric Malpass, English novelist (b. 1910)
- October 16 - Jason Bernard, American actor (b. 1938)
- November 21 - Abdus Salam, Pakistani physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
- November 26 - Mark Lenard, American actor (b. 1924)
- November 26 - Paul Rand, American graphic designer (b. 1914)
- November 30 - Tiny Tim, American musician (b. 1932)
- December 6 - Pete Rozelle, American commissioner of the National Football League (b. 1926)
- December 11 - Willie Rushton, English comedian, satirist, actor, and cartoonist (b, 1937)
- December 16 - Quentin Bell, English biographer and art historian (b. 1910)
- December 20 - Carl Sagan, American astronomer (b. 1934)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - David M. Lee, Douglas D. Osheroff, Robert C. Richardson
- Chemistry - Robert Curl, Sir Harold Kroto, Richard Smalley
- Medicine - Peter C. Doherty, Rolf M. Zinkernagel
- Literature - Wislawa Szymborska
- Peace - Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and José Ramos Horta

Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel


- James Mirrlees, William Vickrey

Templeton Prize


- William R. "Bill" Bright

Right Livelihood Award


- Herman Daly, The Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishat and George Vithoulkas als:1996 ko:1996년 ms:1996 ja:1996年 simple:1996 th:พ.ศ. 2539

Eidos Interactive

Eidos Interactive is a publisher of video and computer games based in the United Kingdom. Its most well-known game series include Tomb Raider, Commandos, Deus Ex, Legacy of Kain, Fear Effect, and Thief. Founded in 1990 as a company specialising in video compression and editing software, particularly for Acorn Archimedes computers, Eidos began moving into games in 1995 with the acquisition of Domark (known for 3D Construction Kit, Championship Manager, Hard Drivin', and many others). They also bought out Core Design (probably best known for Chuck Rock, Curse of Enchantia, Heimdall, and Rick Dangerous) and US Gold (Cybercon III, E-Motion, and Out Run). The company were planning to bring out a RISC OS powered games console prior to the collapse of Acorn Computers as a vendor and the sale of the OS to Pace Micro. The company maintains offices all around the world, including the United States, Germany, France, Australia and Japan. On August 3, 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported that Eidos was in preliminary discussions with a small number of companies in relation of a possible business combinations. In early March 2005 Eidos admitted that cash reserves had dwindled to £11.9m during the second half of 2004 and pre-tax losses had grown to £29m. On March 21, 2005 Eidos received a takeover bid from Elevation Partners, the venture capital group owned by former Electronic Arts president John Riccitiello and additionally has a number of notable partners including U2's lead singer Bono. This takeover valued the company at £71m ($135m), and would inject £23m in order to keep the company solvent in the short term. On March 22, Eidos received a second takeover bid from the British games manufacturer SCi Entertainment. SCi offered £74m ($139m), and tabled a restructuring plan to cut £14m from annual costs. To fund this takeover, SCi proposed to sell £60m worth of stock. Eventually, in late April, Elevation Partners formally withdrew its offer, leaving the way clear for SCi. The takeover was finalized on May 16, 2005.

Games


- Championship Manager 5
- Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
  - Commandos: Beyond The Call Of Duty
  - Commandos: Man Of Courage
  - Commandos: Destination Berlin
  - Commandos: Strike Force (First Person Shooter)
- Deus Ex (2000)
  - Deus Ex: Invisible War (2003)
- Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
- Fear Effect
  - Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix
- Fighting Force
  - Fighting Force 2
- Gangsters
- Hitman: Codename 47
  - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
  - Hitman: Contracts
  - Hitman: Blood Money
- Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
- Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
- Project Snowblind
- Revenant
- Shellshock
- Thief: Deadly Shadows
- Tomb Raider (1996)
  - Tomb Raider II
  - Tomb Raider III
  - Tomb Raider: The Last Revalation
  - Tomb Raider Chronicles
  - Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
- Urban Chaos

External links


- [http://www.eidosinteractive.com/ Official website].
- [http://www.eidosinteractive.com/forums/index.html Eidos Interactive Forums]
- [http://www.elevation.com Elevation Partners]
- [http://www.sci.co.uk/corporate SCi Entertainment] Category:Computer and video game companies Category:British video game companies

Video game character

A video game character is a fictional character appearing in a video game or computer game. In the early days of gaming, most characters were little more than generic figures with little in the way of personality, depth, or likability. The first game character to gain massive popularity was Mario in the 1980s. With Mario began the concept of the "game mascot", the idea that a character could become representative of a game company while being marketable to a wide audience. In the years since, many game characters have become bona-fide pop-culture phenomena. Some of the most popular ones are:
- Mario (Super Mario series and Dr. Mario series, Nintendo's company mascot)
- Luigi (Super Mario series)
- Kirby (Kirby series)
- Yoshi (Super Mario series)
- Bowser (Super Mario series)
- Bowser Jr. (Super Mario series)
- Samus Aran (Metroid series)
- Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong series)
- Diddy Kong (Donkey Kong series)
- Dixie Kong (Donkey Kong series)
- Kiddy Kong (Donkey Kong series)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic series, Sega's current company mascot)
- Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic series)
- Knuckles the Echidna (Sonic series)
- Link (The Legend of Zelda series)
- Lara Croft (Tomb Raider series)
- Master Chief (Halo series)
- Erdrick (Dragon Quest series)
- Jin Kazama, Heihachi Mishima, Yoshimitsu, Paul Phoenix et al. (Tekken series)
- Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy series)
- Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy series)
- Yuna (Final Fantasy series)
- Marth (Fire Emblem series)
- Roy (Fire Emblem series)
- Lyndis (Fire Emblem series)
- Mega Man (Mega Man series)
- Solid Snake (Metal Gear series)
- Fox McCloud (Star Fox series)
- Falco Lombardi (Star Fox series)
- Crash Bandicoot (Crash Bandicoot series, Sony Playstation's former company mascot)
- Terry Bogard (Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series)
- Pikachu (Pokémon series)
- Wario (Super Mario series, Wario series, and WarioWare series)
- Waluigi (Mario Tennis series, Mario Golf series, and Mario Party series)
- Gordon Freeman (Half-Life series)
- Bob Newbie (The Sims series)
- Claude Speed/Claude (Grand Theft Auto 2 and Grand Theft Auto III)
- Tommy Vercetti (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City)
- Carl "CJ" Johnson (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
- Mike (Grand Theft Auto Advance)
- Toni Cipriani (Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories)
- Max Payne (Max Payne series)
- Conker the Squirrel (Conker series)
- Banjo Bear (Banjo-Kazooie series)
- Spyro the Dragon (Spyro series)
- Rayman (Rayman series)
- Pac-Man (Pac-Man series, Namco's current company mascot)
- Ms. Pac-Man (Ms. Pac-Man series)
- Ratchet and Clank (Ratchet and Clank series)
- Jak and Daxter (Jak and Daxter series)
- Joanna Dark (Perfect Dark series)
- Viewtiful Joe (Viewtiful Joe series)
- Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine, et al. (Resident Evil series)
- Regina (Dino Crisis series)
- Frogger (Frogger series)
- Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, et al. (Mortal Kombat series)
- Mr. Game & Watch (Game & Watch series)
- Dante (Devil May Cry series)
- Ryu, Ken Masters, M. Bison, Blanka, et al. (Street Fighter seies)
- Riptor, Cinder, et al. (Killer Instinct series)
- Ryu Hayabusa (Dead or Alive series)
- Princess Zelda/Sheik (The Legend of Zelda series)
- Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda series)
- Princess Peach (Super Mario series)
- Jigglypuff (Pokémon series)
- Ness (EarthBound)
- Ice Climbers (Ice Climber)
- Pichu (Pokémon series)
- Mewtwo (Pokémon series)
- Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic series)
- Bomberman (Bomberman series, Capcom's current company mascot)
- Simon Belmont (Castlevania series)
- The Prince (Prince of Persia series)
- Pit (Kid Icarus)
- Captain Falcon (F-Zero series)
- Blinx (Blinx series)
- Alex Kidd (Alex Kidd series, Sega's former company mascot)
- Captain Commando (Captain Commando, Capcom's former company mascot)
- Gex (Gex series, 3DO's former company mascot)
- Akira Yuki, Lau Chan, Jacky Bryant et al. (Virtua Fighter series)
- Sly Cooper (Sly series)
- Tak (Tak series)
- Ty the Tasmanian Tiger (Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series)
- Samanosuke Akechi, Yagyū Jubei, and Jaques Blanc (Onimusha series)
- Kilik, Maxi, Nightmare, Astaroth, et al. (Soul series)
- Ash (Pokémon series)
- Beat (Jet Set Radio series)
- AiAi, MeeMee, GonGon, and Baby (Super Monkey Ball series)
- Axel (Crazy Taxi)
- Slash (Crazy Taxi 2)
- Angel (Crazy Taxi 3 High Roller)
- Sinder, Violet, et al. (Cel Damage)
- Vectorman (Vectorman series)
- Zeke and Julie (Zombies Ate My Neighbors)
- Rayne (BloodRayne series)
- Captain Olimar (Pikman series)
- Princess Daisy (Super Mario series)
- Samurai Goroh (F-Zero series)
- Sam Fisher (Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series)
- Sora (Kingdom Hearts series)
- Mappy the Police Mouse (Mappy series)
- Billy Hatcher (Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg)
- Hori Taizo (Dig Dug series)
- Susumu Hori (Mr. Driller series)
- Balloon Fighter (Balloon Fight series)
- Bubbles (Clu Clu Land)
- Rash, Zitz, and Pimple (Battletoads series)
- Afro Thunder, Angel "Raging" Rivera, Butcher Brown, Boris "the Bear" Knokimov, et al. (Ready 2 Rumble Boxing series)
- Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem series)
- Sam "Serious" Stone (Serious Sam series)

See also


- List of Nintendo characters
- List of video game mascots Category:Lists of fictional characters Category:Computer and video game characters

Archaeologist

Archaeology or archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. The goals of archaeology are to document and explain the origins and development of human culture, understand culture history, chronicle cultural evolution, and study human behaviour and ecology, for both prehistoric and historic societies.

Ontology and definition

In the Old World, archaeology has tended to focus on the study of physical remains, the methods used in recovering them and the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings in achieving the subject's goals. The discipline's roots in antiquarianism and the study of Latin and Ancient Greek provided it with a natural affinity with the field of history. In the New World, archaeology is more commonly devoted to the study of human societies and is treated as one of the four subfields of Anthropology. The other subfields of anthropology supplement the findings of archaeology in a holistic manner. These subfields are cultural anthropology, which studies behavioural, symbolic, and material dimensions of culture; linguistics, which studies language, including the origins of language and language groups; and physical anthropology, which includes the study of human evolution and physical and genetic characteristics. Other disciplines also supplement archaeology, such as paleontology, paleozoology, paleoethnobotany, paleobotany, geography, geology, art history, and classics. Archaeology has been described as a craft that enlists the sciences to illuminate the humanities. Writing in 1948, the American archaeologist Walter Taylor asserted that "Archaeology is neither history nor anthropology. As an autonomous discipline, it consists of a method and a set of specialised techniques for the gathering, or 'production' of cultural information". Archaeology is an approach to understanding human culture through its material remains regardless of chronology. In England, archaeologists have uncovered the long-lost layouts of medieval villages abandoned after the crises of the 14th century and the equally lost layouts of 17th century parterre gardens swept away by a change in fashion. In downtown New York City archaeologists have exhumed the 18th century remains of the Black burial ground. Traditional Archaeology is viewed as the study of pre-historical human cultures; that is cultures that existed before the development of writing for that culture. Historical archaeology is the study of post-writing cultures. In the study of relatively recent cultures, which have been observed and studied by Western scholars, archaeology is closely allied with ethnography. This is the case in large parts of North America, Oceania, Siberia, and other places where the study of archaeology mingles with the living traditions of the cultures being studied. Kennewick_Man is an example of archaeology interacting with modern culture. In the study of cultures that were literate or had literate neighbours, history and archaeology supplement one another for broader understanding of the complete cultural context, as at Hadrian's Wall. Hadrian's Wall

Importance and applicability

Most of human history is not described by any written records. Writing did not exist anywhere in the world until about 5000 years ago, and only spread among a relatively small number of technologically advanced civilisations. In contrast Homo sapiens have existed for at least 200,000 years, and other species of Homo for millions of years (see Human evolution). These civilisations are, not coincidentally, the best-known; they have been open to the inquiry of historians for centuries, while the study of pre-historic cultures has arisen only recently. Even within a civilisation that is literate at some levels, many important human practices are not officially recorded. Any knowledge of the formative early years of human civilisation - the development of agriculture, cult practices of folk religion, the rise of the first cities - must come from archaeology. Even where written records do exist, they are invariably incomplete or biased to some extent. In many societies, literacy was restricted to the elite classes, such as the clergy or the bureaucracy of court or temple. The literacy even of an aristocracy has sometimes been restricted to deeds and contracts. The interests and world-view of elites are often quite different from the lives and interests of the rest of the populace. Writings that were produced by people more representative of the general population were unlikely to find their way into libraries and be preserved there for posterity. Thus, written records tend to reflect the biases of the literate classes, and cannot be trusted as a sole source. The material record is nearer to a fair representation of society, though it is subject to its own inaccuracies, such as sampling bias and differential preservation. In addition to their scientific importance, archaeological remains sometimes have political significance to descendants of the people who produced them, monetary value to collectors, or simply strong aesthetic appeal. Many people identify archaeology with the recovery of such aesthetic, religious, political, or economic treasures rather than with the reconstruction of past societies. This view is often espoused in works of popular fiction, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Mummy, and King Solomon's Mines. When such unrealistic subjects are treated more seriously, accusations of pseudoscience are invariably levelled at their proponents (see Pseudoarchaeology, below). However, these endeavours, real and fictional, are not representative of the modern state of archaeology.

Goals

There is still a tremendous emphasis in the practice of archaeology on field techniques and methodologies. These include the tasks of surveying areas in order to find new sites, digging sites in order to unearth the cultural remains therein, and classification and preservation techniques in order to analyse and keep these remains. Every phase of this process can be a source of information. The goals of archaeology are not always the same. There are at least three broad, distinct theories of exactly what archaeological research should do. (These are beyond the scope of the present discussion, and are discussed at length below.) Nevertheless, there is much common ground.

Academic sub-disciplines

Main article: Archaeological sub-disciplines As with most academic disciplines, there are a very large number of archaeological sub-disciplines characterised by a specific method or type of material (e.g. lithic analysis, music, archaeobotany), geographical or chronological focus (e.g. Near Eastern archaeology, Medieval archaeology), other thematic concern (e.g. landscape archaeology), or a specific archaeological culture or civilisation (e.g. Egyptology).

Cultural resources management

Cultural resources management (CRM) (also called heritage management in Britain) is a branch of archaeology that accounts for most research done in the United States and much of that in western Europe as well. In the United States, CRM archaeology has been a growing concern sin