Many consider Lewis Binford to be the single most influential figure in archaeology in the last half-century. His contributions to the "New Archaeology" changed the course of the field as he argued for the development of a scientifically rigorous framework to guide the excavation and interpretation of the archaeological record. In this book, first published nearly two decades ago, Binford provided students and general readers with an introduction to his challenging and provocative ideas about understanding the human past. Now available again, this important component of Binford's intellectual legacy will convey the drama and intellectual excitement of contemporary archaeology to a new generation of archaeologists and others interested in the field. Throughout the book, Binford questions old ideas and proposes new theories based on his comparative archaeological and ethnographic research in North America, Europe, South Africa, and Australia. A new afterword by Binford surveys the direction archaeology has taken since the publication of this book and shares his hopes for the future of the discipline.

Many consider Lewis Binford to be the single most influential figure in archaeology in the last half-century. His contributions to the "New Archaeology" changed the course of the field, as he argued for the development of a scientifically rigorous framework to guide the excavation and interpretation of the archaeological record. This book, the culmination of Binford's intellectual legacy thus far, presents a detailed description of his methodology and its significance for understanding hunter-gatherer cultures on a global basis. This landmark publication will be an important step in understanding the great process of cultural evolution and will change the way archaeology proceeds as a scientific enterprise.
This work provides a major synthesis of an enormous body of cultural and environmental information and offers many original insights into the past. Binford helped pioneer what is now called "ethnoarchaeology"--the study of living societies to help explain cultural patterns in the archaeological record--and this book is grounded on a detailed analysis of ethnographic data from about 340 historically known hunter-gatherer populations. The methodological framework based on this data will reshape the paradigms through which we understand human culture for years to come.

This milestone volume describes and interprets excavations at one of the greatest late prehistoric sites in the southeastern United States. Lake George reached its zenith between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries A.D., during the florescence of the Mississippian culture. This is a detailed analysis of the site and its relationship to the corpus of Southeastern archaeology.

Video games are an example of material objects, resources and spaces that people use to define their culture. They also serve as archaeological sites in their traditional sense of place. Places where evidence of past activity is preserved and archaeological methodology can be applied. This book serves as a general introduction to archaeogaming: it describes the intersection between archaeology and video games, and applies archaeological theory and method to understand video games as sites as well as artifacts. It is also history, sociology and ontology; and everything that is necessary to define a culture, that of videogames, that is no longer emerging, but has been completely established in the humanity of the Anthropocene and late capitalism. What makes its valuation and cataloging more necessary as digital heritage.

This timely collection of peer-reviewed papers and short essays seek to bridge the longstanding gap between natural and cultural heritage when it comes to landscape management. To this end, the editors foster a combined approach to both domains by promoting stronger internal cooperation and the systematic engagement of new forms of integrated heritage with the external world. The volume contributes to the debate on the new role of heritage in an ever-changing framework for land use, infrastructural investment and sustainable development at national and international levels. All contributions are based on the papers presented in two sessions at the EAA annual meeting in Maastricht 2017.

Clothing was crucial in human evolution, and having to cope with climate change was as true in prehistory as it is today. In Climate, Clothing, and Agriculture in Prehistory, Ian Gilligan offers the first complete account of the development of clothing as a response to cold exposure during the ice ages. He explores how and when clothes were invented, noting that the thermal motive alone is tenable in view of the naked condition of humans. His account shows that there is considerably more archaeological evidence for palaeolithic clothes than is generally appreciated. Moreover, Gilligan posits, clothing played a leading role in major technological innovations. He demonstrates that fibre production and the advent of woven fabrics, developed in response to global warming, were pivotal to the origins of agriculture. Drawing together evidence from many disciplines, Climate Clothing, and Agriculture in Prehistory is written in a clear and engaging style, and is illustrated with nearly 100 images.

The site of medieval Euchaita, on the northern edge of the central Anatolian plateau, was the centre of the cult of St Theodore Tiro ('the Recruit'). Unlike most excavated or surveyed urban centres of the Byzantine period, Euchaita was never a major metropolis, cultural centre or extensive urban site, although it had a military function from the seventh to ninth centuries. Its significance lies precisely in the fact that as a small provincial town, something of a backwater, it was probably more typical of the 'average' provincial Anatolian urban settlement, yet almost nothing is known about such sites. This volume represents the results of a collaborative project that integrates archaeological survey work with other disciplines in a unified approach to the region both to enhance understanding of the history of Byzantine provincial society and to illustrate the application of innovative approaches to field survey.

This book brings together historians, anthropologists and archaeologists to rethink colonialism in a cross-sectional way, from ancient times to contemporary times. | El libro "Repensar el colonialismo. Iberia, de colonia a potencia colonial" reune historiadores, antropologos y arqueologos para repensar el colonialismo de una manera transversal, desde la epoca antigua hasta la epoca contemporanea. Desde el estudio de la cultura material y de fuentes escritas hasta el trabajo en archivos, los y las autoras analizan las imbricadas relaciones socioeconomicas, culturales y de poder existentes entre las comunidades colonizadoras y las colonizadas.

Almost Human is the personal story of a charismatic and visionary palaeontologist, a rich and readable narrative about science, exploration, and what it means to be human.

In 2013, Wits University reasearch professor Lee Berger caught wind of a cache of bones in a hard-to-reach underground cave near Johannesburg. He put out a call around the world for collaborators – men and women small and adventurous enough to be able to squeeze through 8-inch tunnels to reach a sunless cave 40 feet underground. With this team of ‘underground astronauts’, Berger made the discovery of a lifetime: hundreds of prehistoric bones, including entire skeletons of at least 15 individuals, all perhaps two million years old. Their features combined those of known pre-hominids with those more human than anything ever before seen in prehistoric remains. Berger's team had discovered an all new species: Homo naledi.

The cave proved to be the richest pre-hominid site ever discovered, full of implications that challenge how we define ourselves as human. Did these ancestors of ours bury their dead? If so, they must have had an awareness of death, a level of self-knowledge: the very characteristic we used to define ourselves as human. Did an equally advanced species inhabit Earth with us, or before us?

Addressing these questions, Berger counters the arguments of those colleagues who have questioned his controversial interpretations and astounding finds.

As a discipline, archaeology often provides amazing insights into the past. But it can also illuminate the present, especially when investigations are undertaken to better examine the history of institutions such as colleges and universities. In Beneath the Ivory Tower, contributors offer a series of case studies to reveal the ways archaeology can offer a more objective view of changes and transformations that have taken place on America's college campuses. From the tennis courts of William and Mary to the ""iconic paths, lawns, and well-ordered brick buildings"" of Harvard, this volume will change the ways readers look at their alma maters--and at archaeology. Also included are studies of Michigan State, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Illinois, North Carolina, Washington & Lee, Santa Clara, California, and Stanford.

Reliable sex and age estimate on human bone remains is a fundamental aspect in bioarchaeological investigation since such estimates represent the basis on which supplementary studies aiming at contributing to the knowledge of biological and cultural aspects of prehistoric populations are structured. However, since many features, both metrical and morphological ones are specific for each population, and knowing that growth and development patterns as well as sexual dimorphism vary among groups, this work aims at understanding sex and age biological markers on archaeological osteological collections from the Northwest of Argentina. These collections are made up of different sets of skeletons belonging to native populations and fitting different time periods. The fundamental objective of this work has been to study the behavior of sex and age variability general pattern inside and among the collections observed, and, therefore, basic information concerning age and sex patterns of the whole population set they belong to can be provided.

Building on the notion that human remains provide a window into the past, especially regarding identity, the contributors to this volume reflect on intentional and ritualized practices of manipulating the human head within ancient societies. They reveal whose skulls and heads were collected and why, whether as ancestors or enemies, as insiders or outsiders, as males, females, or children. Featuring a wealth of case studies from scholars across the globe, these essays explore the human head's symbolic role in political, social, economic, and religious ritual over the centuries.

This collection of chapters by archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnoarchaeologists, biological archaeologists, and behavioral ecologists considers how humans have practiced mobility across several continents and thousands of years, raising questions about human adaptation and offering a diversity of approaches for measuring ancient mobility of small-scale societies. Mobility is a critical aspect of human adaptation, and humans are unique in their ability to adapt to an immense range of physical habitats. This capacity is at least partially dependent on strategies of population and labor movement within environments. The number of moves, the distance traveled, the frequency of movement, and the people who move all are relevant as archaeologists and anthropologists bring a variety of tools to bear in reading the vast archaeological record of environmental adaptation. This volume should appeal to professional archaeologists as well as many cultural anthropologists, and will be of special interest to researchers of hunter-gatherer, pastoral, and small-scale agricultural societies.

Critically Reading the Theory and Methods of Archaeology stands out as the most thorough and practical guide to the essential critical reading and writing skills that all students, instructors, and practitioners should have. It provides priceless insight for the here and now of the Theory and Methods of Archaeology classes and for a lifetime of reading, learning, teaching, and writing. Chapters focus on rigorous reasoning skills, types of argument, the main research orientations in archaeology, the basic procedural framework that underlies all schools of archaeology, and issues in archaeology raised by skeptical postmodernists.

This handbook gathers original, authoritative articles from leading archaeologists to compile the latest thinking about archaeological theory. The authors provide a comprehensive picture of the theoretical foundations by which archaeologists contextualize and analyze their archaeological data. Student readers will also gain a sense of the immense power that theory has for building interpretations of the past, while recognizing the wonderful archaeological traditions that created it. An extensive bibliography is included. This volume is the single most important reference for current information on contemporary archaeological theories.

How should archaeologists and other social scientists tackle the big and little questions about change in socionatural systems? Although fieldwork is certainly the place to start, it alone is not enough to answer troublesome "how" or "why" questions. To make sense of what they find in the field, archaeologists build models-possible explanations for the data. This book is about new developments in applying dynamic models for understanding relatively small-scale human systems and the environments they inhabit and alter. Beginning with a complex systems approach, the authors develop a "model-based archaeology" that uses specific, generally quantitative models providing partial descriptions of socionatural systems of interest that are then examined against those systems. Taken together, the chapters in this volume constitute an argument for a new way of thinking about how archaeology is (and should be) conducted.

This series of short volumes, each devoted to a theme which is the subject of contemporary debate in archaeology, ranges from issues in theory and method to aspects of world archaeology.The central question this book seeks to explore is this: Are we trying to reconstruct a past in our own image, chained solely to our own unacknowledged emotional, intellectual, and philosophical traditions, or should we attempt to look beyond this at the fundamental concepts we often take for granted, but which if recognised as constructs of the relatively recent past, might begin to allow us to acknowledge our limitations and potentially more profitably engage with archaeological evidence in various ways.The end result is not another nihilist offering based upon a post-modernist collapsed perspective, but rather a considered approach, which, if anything, is ultimately positivist in tone, owing a debt, if anything, to the philosophical outlooks of critical realism.This is a critical yet positive approach to how contemporary conceptual outlooks, if unacknowledged, can seriously influence our understanding of the past. It is an exploration and evaluation of conceptual categories, of great significance to archaeology, which are nevertheless often neglected - age, experience, emotion, the senses, distance, colour etc.

The controversial 'reburial issue' first developed about thirty years ago when some indigenous groups started to campaign for the return of their ancestral human remains from museums and collecting institutions, and these requests were refused. Since then, museums in some countries have responded positively to repatriation requests while those in others continue to refuse them. This incisive book provides the reader with what has been generally missing in the current debate and available literature - a detailed historical understanding of how and why these collections were amassed, and the responses of indigenous groups and collectors at the time. The book focusses particularly on Australia as a background to its documentation and examination of the issue. The reburial question has had wide repercussions for all involved. Today, the topic is of continuing relevance for archaeologists, anthropologists and museum professionals, as well as for many indigenous groups worldwide. The issue highlights two very different approaches to items which hold exceptional importance in many cultures - human remains.It is also about the relationship between science and the people whose past is the subject of academic enquiry, and how the sometimes hegemonic nature of this relationship has, through the issue documented here, relentlessly bubbled to the surface. What may appear at first a simple clash of interests is thus revealed to have many deeper aspects.

"No other work in this field covers the history of important conceptual issues in archaeology in such a deep and knowledgable way, bringing both philosophical and archeological sophistication to bear on all of the issues treated. Wylie's work in "Thinking from Things is original, scholarly, and creative. This book is for anyone who wants to understand contemporary archaeological theory, how it came to be as it is, its relationship with other disciplines, and its prospects for the future."--Merrilee Salmon, author of "Philosophy and Archaeology

"Wylie is a reasonable and astute thinker who lucidly and persuasively makes genuinely constructive criticisms of archaeological thought and practice and very useful suggestions for how to proceed. She commands both philisophy and archaeology to an unusual degree. Having her articles together in "Thinking from Things, with much new material extending and integrating them, is a major contribution that will be widely welcomed among archaeologists--both professionals and students, philosophers and historians of science, and social scientists."--George L. Cowgill, Arizona State University

"Archaeology and Text" challenges traditional assumptions about the relationship between history and archaeology by re-evaluating the role of artifacts and documents in the reconstruction of the historical past. Previous attempts to create a rapprochement between the disciplines have been undermined by a failure to see artifacts and documents as anything more than simple sources of information about the past. The central argument of this concise and original book is that both must be seen in terms of their efficacy in the past, in particular as technologies of power and resistance. Drawing upon recent work in theoretical archaeology, John Moreland puts forward a series of case studies from early medieval Europe, early modern North America, and the prehistoric Near East to illustrate the ways in which both documents and artifacts were 'activated' in the reproduction and transformation of power and identity. The concluding chapter warns that any contribution these arguments may make to the better understanding of the historical past will be negated if we fail to appreciate the very real dangers posed, to all the peoples of the past, by the recent 'linguistic turn' in both disciplines.

From the first major discoveries a century ago, the painted portraits of Roman Egypt were a revelation to scholars and the public alike, and the recent finding of a new cache of these gilded images, which made national headlines, have only heightened their mystery and appeal. Published to coincide with a new major exhibition of these portraits, "Ancient Faces" is the most comprehensive, up-to-date survey of these astonishing works of art.
Dating from the later period of Roman rule in Egypt, shortly before the birth of Christ, the painted mummy portraits are among the most remarkable products of the ancient world, a fusion of the traditions of pharonic Egypt and the Classical world. They are historical and cultural objects of outstanding importance and beauty, superb works of art that represent some of the earliest known examples of life-like portraiture. Though the subjects of the portraits believed in the traditional Egyptian cults, which offered them a firm prospect of life after death, they also wished to be commemorated in the Roman manner, with their fashion of dress and adornment signaling their status in life. Despite their ancient history, these portraits speak to the modern eye with a beauty and intensity that would be lost to portraiture until the Renaissance.

This provocative introduction examines the most important new school of archaeological thought and practice to have emerged over the last two decades and provides students with an assessment of the impact and importance of recent theoretical debates. Written by a leading figure in the field of theoretically-informed archaeology, the book provides an interpretation of the archaeological process, reassessing the origins and aims of archaeology, and setting forth an innovative agenda for the future.

In particular the author argues for a plural and diverse perspective and for a new "reflexive" methodology: one that opens archaeology up to critique and interaction between different communities. This approach has implications not only for the interpretation of evidence, but for the kind of evidence that is sought in excavating, and the manner of its recovering and recording. It has implications too for the role of archaeology and heritage within new global environments and in the context of new information technologies.

Archaeology uses material data to study the past, but material remains are unable to speak for themselves. They need to be interpreted. All archaeology depends upon the logical framework used to understand data: the theory which underlies interpretation. Yet archaeological theory often seems inaccessible or even irrelevant, wrapped up in jargon and filled with obscure allusions. Written especially for those with no previous knowledge of theory, this book aims to introduce the subject in a way which is both readable and which shows its relevance, and without a specific theoretical stance. The range of theoretical views on some of the themes and problems most often encountered in archaeology is outlined, introducing a wide variety of concepts and approaches equally relevant to the professional or amateur archaeologist, student, or non-specialist reader of archaeological work.

Why are you digging it up? How did it get buried? How did you know it was there? In this simple guide to the basic elements of archaeology, Professor Branigan tackles the questions most commonly asked by visitors to archaeological sites. Drawing on examples from both the Old World and the New and from prehistoric to recent times, he shows the fascination of archaeology as a study in itself and the exciting part it plays in our general view of the past. 'The best explanation of archaeology for the layman that I have ever read. The writing is clear and concise, the illustrations are excellently selected to support the examples, and the style is so interesting that it will keep the reader fascinated to the end.' American Antiquity

This is the second volume of Catherine Perles's study of the chipped/flaked stone tools found at Franchthi Cave, the first of its kind in Greek archaeology, if not in the whole of southeastern European prehistory. In French."