"Archaeology: The Basics, rewritten for this fourth edition, is a short, engaging book takes the reader on a journey through the fascinating world of archaeology and archaeologists. Written in a non-technical style by two experienced archaeologists and writers about the past, the book begins by introducing archaeology as a unique way of studying the entire span of the human past from our origins some 6 million years ago to today. The authors stress that archaeology is a global study of human biological and cultural diversity. After a brief look at early archaeological discoveries, they introduce today's multidisciplinary archaeology. Then they go on to describe the archaeological record, the archives of the past and the importance of contexts of time and space. How do we find archaeological sites and how do we explore them? Two chapters laced with examples examine these questions. Later chapters describe ancient technologies and how we study them, also the all-important subject of changing ancient environments and climate change. Zooarchaeology, flotation methods, and other ways of reconstructing ancient diet and subsistence lead us into the study of changing settlement patterns across the landscape. Next, they visit the people of the past, either as individuals or groups, calling on bioarchaeology to assist them. Two chapters discuss ancient culture change and the remarkable diversity of ancient societies and they are followed by an exploration of the spiritual realm, the exploration of the intangible. The final chapter looks at the importance of archaeology in today's world. Rich in numerous examples and contemporary thinking about archaeology, this book tries to answer an important question: What does archaeology tell us about ourselves? Archaeology: The Basics is essential reading for all those beginning to study archaeology and anyone who has ever questioned the past"--
Containing a simple, jargon-free style-and a lifetime of teaching experience-this text writer shares with today's students his unrivaled experience as an archaeologist and an author.
This volume presents the first comprehensive overview of Kansas archaeology in nearly fifty years, containing the most current descriptions and interpretations of the state's archaeological record.
“It is rare to read an archaeological book that has the capacity to inspire, as this one has.”—Mark P. Leone, author of The Archaeology of Liberty in an American Capital “Archaeology as Political Action is a highly original work ...
... logical positivism, which was suspicious of entities like culture that lie behind observables. According to Godfrey-Smith (2003:582–86), for logical positivists “the sole aim of science is to track patterns in experience.
In his new book, influential archaeologist Ian Hodder discusses our human “entanglements” with material things, and how archaeological evidence can help us to understand the direction of human social and technological change.
Archaeologist Steve Cassells details the prehistory of Colorado from the Paleo-Indian mammoth and bison hunters through the Archaic, Fremont, and Plains Woodland peoples to the Anasazi of the southwest and...
This perspective is quite unique. By combining information on archaeological sites with insights into archaeological practice, this book enables the reader to fully understand the archaeological profession in Italy.
Explores the tremendous discoveries historical archaeologists have made about English life in the Americas during the seventeenth century.
A volume in the series the American Experience in Archaeological Perspective, edited by Michael S. Nassaney
The publication in 1962 of Lew Binford's paper Archaeology as Anthropology is generally considered to mark the birth of processualism - a critical turning point in American archaeology. In the...