Controversies in Archaeology / Edition 1

by Alice Beck Kehoe

Overview

Atlantis, ancient astronauts, and pyramid power. Archaeologists are perennially bombarded with questions about the “mysteries” of the past. They are also constantly addressing more realistic controversies: origins of the First Americans, the ownership of antiquities, and national claims to historical territories. Alice Beck Kehoe offers to introductory students a method of evaluating and assessing these claims about the past in this reader-friendly, concise text. She shows how to use the methods of science to challenge the legitimacy of pseudoscientific proclamations and develop reasonable interpretations on controversial issues. Not one to shy away from controversy herself, Kehoe takes some stands—on transpacific migration, shamanism, the Kensington Runestone—which will challenge instructor and students alike, and foster class discussion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598740615
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/15/2008
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Authored by Kehoe, Alice Beck

Table of Contents

Introduction; Chapter 1 The Past is Today; Chapter 2 Scientific Method; Chapter 3 Popular Archaeology; Chapter 4 America's First Nations and Archaeology; Chapter 5 Finding Diversity; Chapter 6 Religion and Archaeology; Chapter 7 Diffusion Versus Independent Invention; Chapter 8 What People Before Us Could Do; Chapter 9 Neandertals, Farmers, Warriors, and Cannibals Bringing in Biological Data; Chapter 10 Competing Theories of Cultural Development;

Editorial Reviews

Kehoe asserts that "archaeology is a science remarkably suited to illustrating how societal biases and conventional dogmas affect interpretation, and even discovery, of empirical facts." She then exposes how acceptance of scientific explanations about archaeological phenomena is earned within the discipline. She is interested in how unorthodox explanations for complex scientific phenomena are treated; where innovative explanations are likely to arise within the archaeological profession; and how the social construction of archaeological science directs, to some degree, its core paradigms. Throughout her narrative, Kehoe introduces memorable innovators of methods, theories, and explanations. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries.

— S. R. Martin, CHOICE

From the Publisher