Archaeology Essentials: Theories, Methods, and Practice / Edition 3

by Colin Renfrew, Paul Bahn

Overview

An updated edition of the concise version of the best-selling introduction to archaeology.

This new brief version of the best-selling textbook was carefully rewritten to provide a readable and compact introduction to archaeology for those new to the field. No other book of this length can match its range of essential information and explanation. The vocabulary and the use of technical terms have been carefully reviewed. The amount of detail has been considerably reduced, and coverage of difficult or cutting-edge topics is made more accessible for students in courses that treat such subjects briefly. In particular, the coverage of archaeological theory and science has been substantially rewritten to provide a convenient overview without overwhelming the student.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780500291597
Publisher:	Thames & Hudson
Publication date:	02/01/2015
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.00(h) x 2.70(d)

About the Author

Colin Renfrew is Disney Professor Emeritus of Archaeology and former Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. He is the author and editor of many books, including Before Civilization, Archaeology and Language, and Prehistory and coeditor (with Paul Bahn) of The Cambridge World Prehistory. He is a fellow of the British Academy and a life peer in the House of Lords.

Paul Bahn is co-author of Thames & Hudson's hugely influential and bestselling textbook Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice, and has also published a variety of popular books, including Easter Island: Earth Island (with John Flenley), Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age (with Adrian Lister), and Images of the Ice Age, widely regarded as the standard introduction to cave art.

Table of Contents

Preface 7

Introduction 8

The nature and aims of archaeology

1 The Searchers 14

The history of archaeology

2 What Is Left? 36

The variety of the evidence

3 Where? 62

Survey and excavation of sites and features

4 When? 106

Dating methods and chronology

5 How Were Societies Organized? 142

Social archaeology

6 What Was the Environment and What Did They Eat? 176

Environment, subsistence, and diet

7 How Were Artifacts Hade, Used, and Distributed? 210

Technology, trade, and exchange

8 What Were They Like? 234

The bioarchaeology of people

9 What Did They Think? 252

Cognitive archaeology

10 Why Did Things Change? 276

Explanation in archaeology

11 Whose Past? 298

Archaeology and the public

12 The Future of the Past 316

Managing our heritage

Glossary 338

Illustration Credits 344

Useful Websites 345

Index 345

Editorial Reviews

"If I had to recommend the best introductory textbook in general archaeology for undergraduate students who read English, this would be it. . . . but if one wants aspects relating the ancient Near East and Biblical cultures—one will have to supplement it with additional reading."

Biblical Archaeology Review - Aren M. Maeir

If I had to recommend the best introductory textbook in general archaeology for undergraduate students who read English, this would be it. . . . but if one wants aspects relating the ancient Near East and Biblical cultures--one will have to supplement it with additional reading.--Aren M. Maeir

From the Publisher