Many students view archaeological theory as a subject distinct from
field research. This division is reinforced by the way theory is
taught, often in stand-alone courses that focus more on logic and
reasoning than on the application of ideas to fieldwork. Divorcing
thought from action does not convey how archaeologists go about
understanding the past. This book bridges the gap between theory
and practice by looking in detail at how the authors and their
colleagues used theory to interpret what they found while
conducting research in northwest Honduras. This is not a linear
narrative. Rather, the book highlights the open-ended nature of
archaeological investigations in which theories guide research
whose findings may challenge these initial interpretations and lead
in unexpected directions. Pursuing those novel investigations
requires new theories that are themselves subject to refutation by
newly gathered data. The central case study is the writers' work in
Honduras. The interrelations of fieldwork, data, theory, and
interpretation are also illustrated with two long-running
archaeological debates, the emergence of inequality in southern
Mesopotamia and inferring the ancient meanings of Stonehenge. The
book is of special interest to undergraduate
Anthropology/Archaeology majors and first- and second-year graduate
students, along with anyone interested in how archaeologists
convert the static materials we find into dynamic histories of
long-vanished people.
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