Discovering Our Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology - Softcover

Ashmore, Wendy; Sharer, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0072978821 ISBN 13: 9780072978827

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education, 2005

Synopsis

This brief, inexpensive introduction to the techniques, methods, and theoretical frameworks of contemporary archaeology follows the same organizing principle as the text Archaeology: Discovering Our Past but features less detail. Archaeological methods and theory are covered comprehensively--at a reasonable level of detail--in under 300 pages. Illustrative examples and case studies present a temporal and geographic balance of both Old and New World sites. Abundant student aids include maps of archaeological areas, extensive illustrations, chapter introductions and summaries, a guide to further reading at the end of each chapter, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.

About this title

Product Description:

The book is brand new and will be dispatched from UK.

From the Publisher:

Archaeological method and theory are covered comprehensively'at a reasonable level of detail'in under 300 pages.
Methods and theories are presented in the context of an ideal research plan.
The most authoritative and up-to-date analysis of the three major theoretical frameworks: cultural history, cultural process, and postprocessual approaches.
The text begins with descriptions of two dramatically significant archaeological events: the opening of a royal tomb at Sipan, Peru, and the looting of a Native American site at Slack Farm, Kentucky.
Illustrative examples and case studies that represent a temporal and geographic balance of both Old and New World sites.
Abundant student helps including maps of archaeological areas, extensive illustrations, chapter summaries, a guide to further reading at the end of each chapter, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
Chapter 3 has been recast and updated to include discussions of postprocessual archaeology and mentions of other approaches such as Marxist and feminist perspectives on archaeology.
Chapter 6 contains an expanded section on ecofacts, and soils and sediments.
Chapter 7 contains updated sections on dating.
Chapter 8 includes an expanded section on settlement archaeology that includes new research at Çatalhöyük and in Peru's Upper Mantaro Valley. The role of whole landscapes also figures prominently in this discussion.
Chapter 9 includes a new section that looks at the development of agriculture from multiple perspectives including the three major perspectives introduced in Chapter 3 (cultural history, cultural process, and post-processual).
Chapter 10 introduces a new section on the effects of nationalism, colonialism, and war. A discussion of the New York African Burial Ground is included in the section 'Working with Descendant Communities.'

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0072978821
• ISBN 13: 9780072978827
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 312