The Chinese word **考古** (kǎogǔ, meaning "archaeology" or "to engage in archaeological study") is a compound word formed through a classic verb-object morphological structure. The first character **考** (kǎo) means "to investigate" or "to examine," and the second character **古** (gǔ) means "antiquity" or "ancient times." Combined, they literally mean "to examine antiquity," where **考** acts upon the object **古**, describing the systematic research of ancient material remains and cultures. This logical and transparent formation reflects the word's origin in Chinese scholarly tradition, notably from the title of an 11th-century Song dynasty text *Kao Gu Tu* ("Illustrated Archaeological Records"), which catalogued ancient artifacts.