A European Neolithic burial. A large stone Venus. Nothing unusual except that it was found on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Archaeologist Hannah Green and her shovelbum nephew find themselves in a tangled web of competing interests - avaricious land owners, hungry media, and a cult of goddess worshippers - while investigating one of the finds of the century. In untangling the mystery of the Washington Venus, Hannah and Sean have to confront questions of archaeological evidence, conflicting interpretation of data, and the very nature of archaeological truths. This thoroughly updated version of an archaeological classic allows you to learn the basics of archaeological theory while puzzling out a mysterious turn of events.

Dr. Hannah Green-heroine of Praetzellis's textbook-as-novel Death by Theory-has really gotten herself into trouble this time. The spunky archaeologist has been asked to manage the contract archaeology project at a historic site in New Zealand when the regular archaeological staff of University of Invercargill abruptly dies off. On the scene, Hannah discovers she needs to teach her team about research design, survey methods, archival research, professional ethics, curation, and especially field safety, if they are to complete the contract before young Mr. Wallace levels the site in favor of a golf course. With a cast of characters that includes Missy-Jojo-the-Dog-Faced-Girl as lab supervisor, erotic romance writer and field volunteer Elena Solara, the ghost of socialite Bunny Wallace, and shovelbum Rusty Spittle, Praetzellis' brief textbook-as-novel introduces students to the hows and whys of field methodology in an entertaining but informative way. Ideal for your introductory archaeology classes and probably the only textbook you'll enjoy reading yourself.

This book provides a brief, readable introduction to archaeological theory. Adrian Praetzellis demystifies a pile of tricky contemporary concepts for the theory-phobic undergraduate or beginning graduate student. This new edition adds chapters on Indigenous, cognitive, and behavioral archaeologies and now covers 15 contemporary theories from neoevolutionism to queer theory. Each chapter begins with a description of the concept, its origin and significance. Next up is an example of how an archaeologist has used the idea to understand their site, making the connection between the idea and the archaeology plain and unambiguous. Each chapter ends with discussion questions and suggestions for further reading. A glossary of postmodern discourse (including that word) concludes the book. Using plain English to clarify some of the more baffling ideas used in contemporary archaeology, this book is a vital resource for students studying archaeological theory and the discipline as a whole.

A European Neolithic burial. A large stone Venus. Nothing unusual except that it was found on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Archaeologist Hannah Green and her shovelbum nephew find themselves in a tangled web of competing interests - avaricious land owners, hungry media, and a cult of goddess worshippers - while investigating one of the finds of the century. In untangling the mystery of the Washington Venus, Hannah and Sean have to confront questions of archaeological evidence, conflicting interpretation of data, and the very nature of archaeological truths. This thoroughly updated version of an archaeological classic allows you to learn the basics of archaeological theory while puzzling out a mysterious turn of events.