Beyond achaeology is paleotology. Today I learned of a pandemic virus that killed plankton leaving thier white micro skeletal behind.
That 'chalk' is what we call the white cliffs of Dover today which is a mass plankton graveyard. It used to go all the way across today's English channel but got washed away by geological forces in a flood of epic proportions. Eons ago some events are slow but some are quick
like the undersea volcano by Tonga this weekend.