Archaeological Investigation

by Martin Carver

Overview

Drawing its numerous examples from Britain and beyond, Archaeological Investigation explores the procedures used in field archaeology travelling over the whole process from discovery to publication.

Divided into four parts, it argues for a set of principles in part one, describes work in the field in part two and how to write up in part three. Part four describes the modern world in which all types of archaeologist operate, academic and professional. The central chapter ‘Projects Galore’ takes the reader on a whirlwind tour through different kinds of investigation including in caves, gravel quarries, towns, historic buildings and underwater.

Archaeological Investigation intends to be a companion for a newcomer to professional archaeology – from a student introduction (part one), to first practical work (part two) to the first responsibilities for producing reports (part three) and, in part four, to the tasks of project design and heritage curation that provide the meat and drink of the fully fledged professional.

The book also proposes new ways of doing things, tried out over the author’s thirty years in the field and brought together here for the first time. This is no plodding manual but an inspiring, provocative, informative and entertaining book, urging that archaeological investigation is one of the most important things society does.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415489188
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/09/2009
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Martin Carver is an archaeologist who has worked in ten countries and had four careers: 14 years as an army officer, 13 years as a freelance excavator, 22 years as a university professor and 16 years, so far, as an archaeological researcher, writer and editor. He has undertaken projects in England, in the West Midlands and Sutton Hoo, in north-east Scotland at Portmahomack, and in France, Italy and Algeria for their government agencies. From 2003 to 2012, he was editor of Antiquity, which publishes archaeological theories and discoveries from all over the world. Here he created a special section on methods and an online supplement that carries notices of new projects (Project Gallery). He was the first secretary of the Institute of Field Archaeologist (now the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists), and is a fellow of the Societies of Antiquaries of London and Scotland, a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute and a Fellow of the British Academy.

Madeleine Hummler was educated at the Universities of Basel, Birmingham and Oxford, where she completed her DPhil on the Iron Age archaeology of the Rhône valley. She has excavated widely in Switzerland, Britain, France, northern Italy and Sicily, directing fieldwork in Britain, Provence and Lombardy and training generations of students to excavate, survey and record over four decades. Mastering four languages and a trained teacher of modern languages, she has translated and edited numerous archaeological publications, including for Antiquity and the European Journal of Archaeology, and reviewed hundreds of books when Reviews Editor at Antiquity (2005–2012). She is a fellow of the Societies of Antiquaries of London.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Principles 1. The Stuff 2. Approaches 3. Field Research Procedure: A Framework Part 2: In the Field 4. Landscape Survey 5. Site Survey 6. Excavation 7. Projects Galore Part 3: Writing Up 8. Analysis 9. Assemblage 10. Space 11. Chronology 12. Synthesis 13. Publication Part 4: Design 14. Evaluation and Project Design 15. Our Profession and its Context. Glossary. Sources and Resources

Editorial Reviews

'Accessible, comprehensive and interesting – a bible for field archaeologists.' – Claire Smith, President, World Archaeological Congress

'Written by one of our finest excavators, distilling a lifetime's experience. Comprehensive yet provocative, it's a "must read" for both student and professional alike.' – Graeme Barker, Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK

'This is the best book in the English language for fifty years or more on the practice of field archaeology.' – Richard Hodges, Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, USA

'Highly recommended.' – Choice

'Let's not beat around the bush, this is quite simply a terrific book, and is now the primer for matters of archaeological technique and methodology.' – British Archaeology Magazine

'With this book, Carver points a clear way through the system, doing much to help us all be more fully-rounded archaeologists.' – www.diggingthedirt.com

From the Publisher