Definition of "archaeology"

{1} He first presented a complementary thesis on the Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), in which he used the term “archaeology” for the first time, and which indicated the period of history to which he was constantly to return.{2} The latent grid of knowledge which organizes every scientific discourse and defines what can or cannot be thought scientifically — the process of uncovering these levels Foucault calls 'archaeology'.{3} “Archaeology”, as the investigation of that which renders necessary a certain form of thought, implies an excavation of unconsciously organized sediments of thought. Unlike a history of ideas, it doesn’t assume that knowledge accumulates towards any historical conclusion. Archaeology ignores individuals and their histories. It prefers to excavate impersonal structures of knowledge.Archaeology is a task that doesn’t consist of treating discourse as signs referring to a real content like madness. It treats discourses, such as medicine, as practices that form the objects of which they speak.

1997, Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, Totem Books, Icon Books, pages 36,{1} 63,{2} and 64{3}