Humans and the Environment: New Archaeological Perspectives for the Twenty-First Century - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 019959029X ISBN 13: 9780199590292

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2013

Synopsis

The environment has always been a central concept for archaeologists and, although it has been conceived in many ways, its role in archaeological explanation has fluctuated from a mere backdrop to human action, to a primary factor in the understanding of society and social change. Archaeology also has a unique position as its base of interest places it temporally between geological and ethnographic timescales, spatially between global and local dimensions, and epistemologically between empirical studies of environmental change and more heuristic studies of cultural practice.

Drawing on data from across the globe at a variety of temporal and spatial scales, this volume resituates the way in which archaeologists use and apply the concept of the environment. Each chapter critically explores the potential for archaeological data and practice to contribute to modern environmental issues, including problems of climate change and environmental degradation. Overall the volume covers four basic themes: archaeological approaches to the way in which both scientists and locals conceive of the relationship between humans and their environment, applied environmental archaeology, the archaeology of disaster, and new interdisciplinary directions.The volume will be of interest to students and established archaeologists, as well as practitioners from a range of applied disciplines.

About this title

Review:

a forward-thinking book that looks to the past to try to understand the future relationship betwteen humans and the environment. (Polly Heffer, Current World Archaeology)

About the Author:

Matthew Davies is currently Fellow in East African Archaeology at the British Institute in Eastern Africa, and the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. He directs archaeological and ethnographic research projects in Kenya, Uganda, and the Southern Sudan. His primary interests lie in long-term human relations, especially environmental decision making and related socio-cultural institutions. Freda Nkirote M'Mbogori is a senior archaeologist based at the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, with extensive fieldwork experience in the region. Her principal interests lie in the relationship between material culture, economy/environment and identity, and how received concepts played into colonial and present day economic/environmental policies in Eastern Africa.

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 019959029X
• ISBN 13: 9780199590292
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384
• Editor: Davies Matthew I. J., M'Mbogori Freda Nkirote