paletiology

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

• n. That science, or mode of speculation or investigation, which explains past conditions by the law of causation, by reasoning from present conditions, or which endeavors to ascend to a past state of things by the aid of the evidence of the present.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• n. the explanation of past events in terms of scientific causes (as geological causes)