Read the following research prompt and select the statement that best paraphrases the content to avoid plagiarism.

The history of archaeology has been one of increasing professionalization, and the use of an increasing range of techniques to obtain as much data on the site being examined as possible. The exact origins of archaeology as a discipline are uncertain. Excavations of ancient monuments and the collection of antiquities have been taking place for thousands of years. It was only in the 19th century, however, that the systematic study of the past through its physical remains began to be carried out in a manner recognizable to modern students of archaeology.