What do historians study when attempting to make connections between ancient civilizations and world cultures of today?

Historians study a number of things when attempting to make connections between ancient civilizations and the culture of today. Often including such things as social trends, literature, and media of the time. Anthropology includes the knowledge from nearly every possible academic sphere, from the sciences to the humanities of a given topic.  Anthropology, is in short, the study of mankind from ancient times to the "modern" cultures of now. The reason for such studies taking place is to hopefully learn from the past and improve our current state as a society.