Although many believe that archaeological knowledge consists simply of empirical findings, this notion is false; data are generated with the guidance of theory, or some sense-making system acting in its place whether researchers recognize this or not. Failure to understand the relationship between theory and the empirical world has led to the many debates and frustrations of contemporary archaeology.

Despite years of trying, the atheoretical, empiricist foundations of archaeology have left us little but a history of storytelling and unsatisfying generalizations about historical change and human diversity. The present work offers promising directions for building theoretically defensible results by providing well-designed case studies that can be used as guides or exemplars. Evolutionary theory, in at least some form, is the foundation for a scientific archaeology that will yield scientific explanations for historical change.

This volume contributes to the emerging topic of social paleoethnobotany with a series of papers exploring dynamic aspects of past social life, particularly the day-to-day practices and politics of procuring, preparing, and consuming plants. The contributors to this volume illustrate how one can bridge differences between the natural and social sciences through the more socially-focused interpretations of botanical datasets. The chapters in this volume draw on a diversity of plant-derived datasets, macrobotanical, microbotanical, and molecular, which contribute to general paleoethnobotanical practice today. They also carefully consider the contexts in which the plant remains were recovered. These studies illustrate that the richest interpretations come from projects that are able to consider the widest range of data types, particularly as they aim to move beyond simple descriptions of food items and environmental settings. The authors in this volume address several themes including: the collection of wild resources, the domestication of crops and spread of agriculture, the role of plant remains in questions regarding domestic life, ritual, and gender as well as the broader implications of a socially-engaged paleoethnobotany. These studies point a path forward for the constantly evolving field of paleoethnobotany, one that is methodologically rigorous and theoretically engaged. Together, these papers shed light on ways in which the specialized analysis of plant remains can contribute to theory building and advancing archaeological understanding of past lifeways.

Most places in Britain have had a local history written about them. Up until this century these histories have addressed more parochial issues, such as the life of the manor, rather than explaining the features and changes in the landscape in a factual manner. Much of what is visible today in Britain's landscape is the result of a chain of social and natural processes, and can be interpreted through fieldwork as well as from old maps and documents.
Michael Aston uses a wide range of source material to study the complex and dynamic history of the countryside, illustrating his points with aerial photographs, maps, plans and charts. He shows how to understand the surviving remains as well as offering his own explanations for how our landscape has evolved.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203442121

This book analyses British action in the Southern hemisphere in the late 18th century, examining two Royal Navy ships, one off the Argentinean coast and one off the Southeast Australian coast. The author goes beyond a descriptive analysis of wrecks by treating them and their cargoes as embodiments of 18th century social relations. The book challenges traditional approaches, providing a perspective that emphasises the richness, diversity and complexity of British action.

While European scholarship in the Classics has a long and established tradition, very little has been written on the history of classical scholarship in North America. By providing profiles of some 600 North American Classicists, this reference book presents a starting point for defining the history of Classical scholarship in Canada and the United States. Included are those Classicists who made significant contributions to the field and those who are representative figures. The people profiled were either born in the United States or Canada, or were born in other countries but had careers in North America. They were either founding fathers of the profession, scholars known more for their specialized contributions, or members of smaller or remote institutions who achieved at least regional distinction for their work. The first part of each entry provides basic biographical and professional information. A narrative summary of the person's career follows, and each profile closes with a short bibliography. The entries are arranged in alphabetical order and were written by expert contributors.

Far too often in the ?eld of archeology, the wheel of understanding and insight has a narrow focus that fails to recognize critical studies. Crucial information rega- ing pivotal archeological investigations at a variety of sites worldwide is extremely dif?cult, if not impossible, to obtain. The majority of archeological analysis and reporting, at best, has limited publication. The majority of archeological reports are rarely seen and when published are often only in obscure or out-of-print journals - the reports are almost as hard to ?nd as the archeological sites themselves. There is a desperate need to pull seminal archeological writings together into single issue or thematic volumes. It is the int- tion of this series, When the Land Meets the Sea, to address this problem as it relates to archeological work that encompasses both terrestrial and underwater archeology on a single site or on a collection of related sites. For example, despite the fact that we know that bays and waterways structured historic settlement, there is a lack of archeological literature that looks at both the nautical and terrestrial signatures of watersheds in?uence on historic culture.

The book contains the Proceedings of the 37th International Symposium on Archaeometry, 12th -16th May 2008, Siena, Italy. The aim of the Symposium is to promote the development and use of scientific techniques in order to extract archaeological and historical information from the cultural heritage and the paleoenvironment. It involves all Natural Sciences and all types of objects and materials related with human activity. Papers deal with the development and/or application of scientific techniques for extracting information related to human activities of the past, including the biological nature of man himself and the environment in which he lived. They are grouped according to the following Symposium Sessions and Sub-sessions: 1. Field Archaeology 2. Archaeo-chronometry 3.Recent Developments in Radiocarbon Dating Human - Environment Interactions (Geoarchaeology, Palaeoclimate studies, Landscape Archaeology, Environmental reconstructions, etc Bioarchaeology 4. Food preparation and consumption in Antiquity 5 .Stone, Plaster and Pigments (Technology and Provenance) 6. Ceramics, Glazes, Glass and Vitreous Materials (Technology and Provenance) 7.Metals and Metallurgical Ceramics (Technology and Provenance) 8.Integrated Site Studies (they should combine: excavation procedure, scientific studies of materials and environment, and archaeological interpretation) 9. Special Theme Session for Siena Micro/nano diagnostic and ancient technology

A must-read guide to conducting qualitative field research in the social sciences Doing Field Projects: Methods and Practice for Social and Anthropological Research delivers a thorough and insightful introduction to qualitative field methods in the social sciences. Ideal for undergraduate students just starting out in fields like anthropology, sociology, and related subjects, the book offers readers twenty instructive projects. Each project is well-suited as a standalone exercise, or several may be combined as a series of field work assignments. From interview techniques to participant observation, kinship analysis, spatial mapping, photo and video documentation, and auto-ethnography, Doing Field Projects covers each critical area of qualitative fieldwork students are likely to encounter. Every project also contains discussions of how to execute the research, avoid common problems and mistakes, and present the uncovered data in several different formats. This important resource also offers students: A thorough introduction to fieldwork, including the history of fieldwork methods, the shift from colonial to post-colonial anthropology, and discussion of fieldwork vs. ethnography Comprehensive explorations of getting started with fieldwork, including necessary equipment, research design, data presentation, and journal keeping Practical discussions of the ethics of fieldwork, including the "Do No Harm" principle, institutional approval, openness, and anonymity In-depth examinations of autoethnography, proxemics, mapping, recorded interviews, participant observation, and engaged anthropology The opportunity to conduct a complete fieldwork course using digital and online resources only Supporting learning material for each chapter, including a brief outline of Learning Goals and a paragraph summarizing the contents Doing Field Projects: Methods and Practice for Social and Anthropological Research is the perfect guide for undergraduate students taking courses and programs in which qualitative field methods are central to the field, like anthropology and sociology.

This volume centers on the application of social theory to commingled remains with special focus on the cultural processes that create the assemblages as a way to better understand issues of meaning, social structure and interaction, and lived experience in the past. The importance of the application of theoretical frameworks to bioarchaeology in general has been recognized, but commingled and fragmentary assemblages require an increased theoretical focus. Too often these assemblages are still relegated to appendices; they are analytical puzzles that need the interpretive power offered by social theory. Theoretical Approaches to Analysis and Interpretation of Commingled Human Remains provides case studies that illustrate how an appropriate theoretical model can be used with commingled and fragmentary remains to add to overall site and population level interpretations of past and present peoples. Specifically, the contributions show a blending and melding of different social theories, highlighting the broad interpretive power of social theory. Contributors are drawn from both the Old and New World. Temporally, time periods from the Neolithic to historic periods are present, further widening the audience for the volume.

Explore the entire history of the ancient Egyptian state from 3000 B.C. to 400 A.D. with this authoritative volume The newly revised Second Edition of A History of Ancient Egypt delivers an up-to-date survey of ancient Egypt's history from its origins to the Roman Empire's banning of hieroglyphics in the fourth century A.D. The book covers developments in all aspects of Egypt's history and their historical sources, considering the social and economic life and the rich culture of ancient Egypt. Freshly updated to take into account recent discoveries, the book makes the latest scholarship accessible to a wide audience, including introductory undergraduate students. A History of Ancient Egypt outlines major political and cultural events and places Egypt's history within its regional context and detailing interactions with western Asia and Africa. Each period of history receives equal attention and a discussion of the problems scholars face in its study. The book offers a foundation for all students interested in Egyptian culture by providing coverage of topics like: A thorough introduction to the formation of the Egyptian state between the years of 3400 B.C. and 2686 B.C. An exploration of the end of the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate period, from 2345 B.C. to 2055 B.C. An analysis of the Second Intermediate Period and the Hyksos between 1700 B.C. and 1550 B.C. A discussion of Greek and Roman Egypt between 332 B.C. and A.D. 395. Perfect for students of introductory courses in ancient Egyptian history and as background material for students of courses in Egyptian art, archaeology, and culture, A History of Ancient Egypt will also earn a place in the libraries of students taking surveys of the ancient world and those seeking a companion volume to A History of the Ancient Near East.

Cultural evolution, much like general evolution, works from the assumption that cultures are descendent from much earlier ancestors. Human culture manifests itself in forms ranging from the small bands of hunters, through intermediate scale complex hunter-gatherers and farmers, to the high density urban settlements and complex polities that characterize much of today s world.

The chapters in the volume examine the dynamic interaction between the micro- and macro-scales of cultural evolution, developing a theoretical approach to the archaeological record that has been termed evolutionary processual archaeology. The contributions in this volume integrate positive elements of both evolutionary and processualist schools of thought. The approach, as explicated by the contributors in this work, offers novel insights into topics that include the emergence, stasis, collapse and extinction of cultural patterns, and development of social inequalities. Consequently, these contributions form a stepping off point for a significant new range of cultural evolutionary studies."

The emergence of Israel in Canaan is perhaps the most debated topic in biblical/Syro-Palestinian archaeology and related fields, Accordingly, it has received a great deal of attention in recent years, both in scholarly literature and in popular publications. Generally speaking, however, the archaeology of ancient Israel is wedged in a paradoxical situation. Despite the large existing database of archaeological finds from thousands of excavations conducted over an extremely limited area, scholars in this (sub)discipline typically do not engage in theoretical (anthropological) discussions, thus exposing a large gap between it and other branches of archaeology. Numerous archaeologically-oriented studies of Israelite ethnicity are still conducted largely in the spirit of the culture history school, and are absent of thorough reference to the work of more recent critics, which, at best, make a selected appearance in these analyses. Israel's Ethnogenesis provides an anthropologically-oriented perspective to the discussion of Israel's ethnogenesis. This monograph incorporates detailed archaeological data and relevant textual sources within an anthropological framework. Moreover, it contributes to the archeology of ethnicity, a field which currently attracts significant attention from archaeologists and anthropologists all over the world. Making use of an unparalleled archaeological database from ancient Israel, this volume has much to offer to the ongoing debate over the nature of ethnicity in general, and to the understudied question of how ethnic groups evolve (ethnogenesis), in particular.

This volume provides analytical definitions and discussions of the key concepts in archaeology. For each of the more than seventy terms covered, the dictionary provides an examination of the development of the term and an analysis of the key thinkers and writing involved in its development. Each entry concludes with a bibliographical essay designed to cover the original sources of vital importance in the development of the concept---sources such as review articles that provide access to a sizable portion of the literature related to the concept, and a selection of recent publications representative of current directions in research. Additional access to the material covered is provided by an index of concepts and terms and an index of names. This is the first reference dictionary to deal with the concepts in archaeology and, as such, will be useful to scholars and students in the field, as well as libraries supporting research in archaeology.

This volume presents the most recent archaeological, historical, and ethnographic research that challenges simplistic perceptions of Native smoking and explores a wide variety of questions regarding smoking plants and pipe forms from throughout North America and parts of South America. By broadening research questions, utilizing new analytical methods, and applying interdisciplinary interpretative frameworks, this volume offers new insights into a diverse array of perspectives on smoke plants and pipes.

In this fascinating biography, the first ever published about Alfred Maudslay (1850-1931), Ian Graham describes this extraordinary Englishman and his pioneering investigations of the ancient Maya ruins.

Maudslay, the grandson of a famous English inventor and engineer, spent his formative adult years in the South Seas as a junior official in Great Britain's Colonial Office. Despite his exotic experiences, he did not find his true vocation until the age of thirty-one, when he arrived in Guatemala.

Maudslay played a crucial role in exploring and documenting the monuments and architecture of the ancient Maya ruins at Palengue Copan, Chichen Itza, and other sites previously unknown. His photographs and plaster casts have proven to be invaluable in the deciphering of Maya hieroglyphics. Personal resources allowed him to undertake fieldwork at a time when no institution provided such support. He made plaster casts of large stone monuments, accurate maps of sites, and painstaking recordings of inscriptions. His "Biologia Centrali-Americana," a multivolume compendium of photographs, drawings, plans, and text published almost a century ago, remains an essential foundation for Maya studies. Perhaps Maudslay's greatest legacy is magnificent collection of glass-negative photographs, many of which are reproduced in this book.

Archaeological chemistry is a subject of great importance to the study and methodology of archaeology. This comprehensive text covers the subject with a full range of case studies, materials, and research methods. With twenty years of experience teaching the subject, the authors offer straightforward coverage of archaeological chemistry, a subject that can be intimidating for many archaeologists who do not already have a background in the hard sciences. With clear explanations and informative illustrations, the authors have created a highly approachable text, which will help readers overcome that intimidation. Topics covered included: Materials (rock, pottery, bone, charcoal, soils, metals, and others), Instruments (microscopes, NAA, spectrometers, mass spectrometers, GC/MS, XRF & XRD, Case Studies (Provinience, Sediments, Diet Reconstruction, Past Human Movement, Organic Residues). The detailed coverage and clear language will make this useful as an introduction to the study of archaeological chemistry, as well as a useful resource for years after that introduction.

In this collection of essays Nicholas Brooks explores some of the earliest and most problematical sources, both written and archaeological, for early English history. In his hands, the structure and functions of Anglo-Saxon origin stories and charters (whether authentic or forged) illuminate English political and social structures, as well as ecclesiastical, urban and rural landscapes. As well as previously published essays, "Anglo-Saxon Myths: State and Church, 400-1066" includes a new account of the English origin myth and a review of the developments in the study of Anglo-Saxon charters over the last twenty years.