Principles of Archaeology by Price, T. Douglas;

Long description:

This new text offers an engaging, straightforward, and profusely illustrated introduction to archaeological method and theory. It captures the excitement and complexity of the field by focusing on three important themes, including how archaeologists think and learn about the past, ethics and the preservation of the past, and the role of science in archaeology. Each chapter offers an enticing mix of clear and thorough discussion of essential topics, provocative case studies, and practical applications that allow students to think like archaeologists.

This new text offers an engaging, straightforward, and profusely illustrated introduction to archaeological method and theory. It captures the excitement and complexity of the field by focusing on three important themes, including how archaeologists think and learn about the past, ethics and the preservation of the past, and the role of science in archaeology. Each chapter offers an enticing mix of clear and thorough discussion of essential topics, provocative case studies, and practical applications that allow students to think like archaeologists.

Table of Contents:

Part I. Introduction

Chapter 1. An Introduction to Archaeology

Introduction: What Is Archaeology?

Archaeology Is. . .

Archaeology Is Not . . .

Example: The Piltdown Man

Example: Erich von Däniken

Evaluating Science and and Pseudoscience

The Scientific Method

Evolution

Evolution and Creationism

Why Study Archaeology?

Careers in Archaeology

Survey Says ?

A Day in the Life ?

University Professor: Tina Thurston

State Archaeologist: Maureen Kavanagh

Museum Curator: Anne Underhill

Conclusions

Chapter 2. Doing Archaeology

Introduction: The Lords of the Moche

Peru and the Moche

Discovery

Excavation

Analysis

Science in Archaeology: The Center for Materials Research in Archaeology & Ethnology

Interpretation

Protecting the Past: Tourism and a New Museum in Lambayeque

Conclusions

Chapter 3. A Brief History of Archaeology

Introduction: The History of Prehistory

Pre-1900

Example: Jefferson at Rivanna River

1900-1950

Example: Woolley at Ur

Protecting the Past: The Ancient City of Ur

1950 ? 2000

Example: FAI 270

Archaeological Thinking: House Size and Population

Today: The Future of the Past

Conclusions

Part II. Discovery

Chapter 4. Archaeological Questions

Introduction: The Subject Matter of Archaeology

What Do Archaeologists Want to Know?

Environment

Demography

Example: The Black Earth Site

Technology

Economy

Example: Jomon Japan

Organization

Ideology

Archaeological Thinking: Ritual in Ancient Oaxaca

Ethonography

Example: Settlement Population and Floor Area

Ethnoarchaeology

Example: Harrapan Beads

Experimental Archaeology

Conclusions

Chapter 5. The Archaeologoical Record

Introduction: Information from the Past

Scale

Context

Archaeological Thinking: The First Americans

The Nature of Evidence

Attributes

Artifacts

Ecofacts

Features and Activity Areas

Example: The Tomb of Qin Shihuang

Assemblages and Components

Sites

Example: South African Rock Art

Science in Archaeology: Dating the Paintings

Regions and Landscapes

Example: A Landscape of Mounds

Spatial Archaeology

Within Site Spatial Analysis: Activity Areas and Features

Example: Activity Areas at Teotihuacán, Mexico

Protecting the Past: The City of the Gods

Within Site Spatial Analysis: Houses and Households

Example: Household Archaeology at Agayadan Village, Alaska

Site Analysis

Regional Spatial Analysis

Site Formation

Preservation

Example: Windover Pond, Florida

Example: The Iceman

Protecting the Past: Ötzi?s New Home

Conclusions

Chapter 6. Fieldwork

Introduction: Finding the Past

The Discovery of Archaeological Sites

Archaeological Survey

Archaeological Thinking: Reese River Valley

Archaeological Excavation

Selecting Sites for Excavation

Test Pits

Vertical Excavation

Horizontal or Area Excavations

Screening and Flotation

Example: Great Hall at Lejre

Underwater Archaeology

The Tools of Fieldwork

Maps and Grids

Contour Maps

The Total Station

Science in Archaeology: Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Soil Sampling

Remote Sensing

Remote Sensing from Above

Example: Chaco Roads

Remote Sensing On the Ground

Science in Archaeology: Georadar at Petra

In the Field

The Project Director

The Field Crew

The Field Experience

Example: Life in the Field

Fieldwork Opportunities

Equipment

Conclusions

Project: Discovering SitesPart III. Analysis

Chapter 7. Classification and Data

Introduction: Sorting, Types, and Numbers

Cleaning and Cataloging

Conservation

Example: Lindow Man

Classification

Archaeological Thinking: Iroquois Pottery

Classifying Artifacts

Raw Material

Technology

Function and Style

Temporal and Geographic Variation

Archaeological Thinking: Styles of Gravestones

Archaeological Thinking: Seriation

Data

Numbers

Basic Statistics

Mean, Median, and Mode

Range, Variance, Standard Deviation

Normal Curve

Chi-Square and Contingency Tables

Visual Display of Information

Stem and Leaf Plots

Bar Graphs and Histograms

Box and Whisker Plots

Pie Charts

Scatterplots

Conclusions

Project: A Room in the Pueblo

Chapter 8. Dating

Introduction: Frameworks for Measuring Time

Relative Dating Methods

Example: Pipestems

Reckoning Time

Absolute Dating Methods

Dendrochronology

Example: Pueblo Bonito

Example: French Neolithic Lake Dwellings

Radiocarbon Dating

Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) Dating

Example: Shroud of Turin

Science in Archaeology: Early Agriculture

Calibration

Radiopotassium Dating

Example: Laetoli: Our First Steps

Protecting the Past: The Laetoli Footprints

Thermoluminescence Dating

Conclusions

Project: Dating a Scythian Tomb

Chapter 9. Geoarchaeology

Introduction: Geology and Archaeology

Geomorphology

Example: Geomorphology and Homer?s Troy

Stratigraphy

Archaeological Thinking: The Harris Matrix

Micromorphology

Example: Keatley Creek

Science in Archaeology: The Petrographic Microscope

Science in Archaeology: The Chemistry of House Floors

Catastrophe

Conclusions

Project: Roman Stratigraphy

Chapter 10: Lithics Analysis

Introduction: Stone Tools and Human Behavior

Fracture Mechanics and Raw Material

Making Stone Tools

Making Sense of Stone Tools

Typology

Chaîne Opératoire

Archaeological Thinking: Stone Tools & Hunter-Gatherers in Western Nevada

Refitting

Archaeological Thinking: How Many Layers?

Microwear Analysis

Science in Archaeology: Stone Tools and Food

Example: The Careful Flintknapper

Conclusions

Project: Stone Tools and the American Bottom

Chapter 11. Ceramic Analysis

Intoduction: Prehistoric Pottery

Making Pottery

Preparing the Paste

Shaping the Vessel

Decoration

Firing

Studying Pottery

Initial Sorting

Attributes of Form and Function

Science in Archaeology: What?s Cooking?

Attributes of Style

Archaeological Thinking: Iroquois Pottery

Provenience Studies

Ceramic Petrography

Example: Icehouse Bottom

Ceramic Composition

Science in Archaeology: Salado Polychrome

Conclusions

Project: Mean Ceramic Dating

Chapter 12. Archaeozoology

Introduction: Animals Remains and Archaeology

Identification and Counts

Example: Extinction Is Forever

Age and Sex

Archaeological Thinking: Animal Domestication In Southwest Asia

Seasonality

Example: Star Carr, England

Science in Archaeology: Seasonality In The Preneolithic

Taphonomy

Butchery

Example: Cut Marks And Early Humans

Example: Gold Rush Menus

Secondary Products

Worked Bones

Shells and Shellfish

Conclusions

Project: Site Seasonality

Chapter 13. Archaeobotany

Introduction: The Study of Archaeological Plants

Macrobotanical Remains

Flotation

Sorting and Identification

Example: Incinerator Site

Protecting The Past: Sunwatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park

Origins of Agriculture

Archaeological Thinking: Domesticating Plants

Example: Abu Hureyra

Wood and Charcoal Identification

Science in Archaeology: The Scanning Electron Microscope

Example: Charcoal from Thera

Microbotanical Remains

Palynology

Example: The Elm Decline

Conclusions

Project: The Origins of Agriculture

Chapter 14. Bioarchaeology

Introduction: The Skeletal Evidnece

Field Reporting

Preparation and Sorting

Identification

Example: Cannibalism

Sex, Age, and Stature

Archaeological Thinking: Maya Stature

Stress, Disease, and Trauma

Example: Abu Hureyra

Example: Raising the Dead: The Mary Rose

Protecting the Past: The Mary Rose Today

Genetic Information

Modern DNA

Ancient DNA

Science in Archaeology: Neanderthal Genealogy

Ancient DNA

Mortuary Analysis

Example: LBK Cemetery at Nitra

Example: Roy Mata

Example: Moundville

Protecting the Past: Moundville Archaeological Park

Conclusions

Project: Mortuary Analysis

Chapter 15. Archaeometry

Introduction: Archaeology in the Laboratory

Instrumentation

Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)

Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS)

X-ray Diffraction (XRD)

Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS)

Science in Archaeology: Laboratory for Archaeological Chemistry

Elemental Analyses

Example: Obsidian Sources and Trade in the Ancient Near East

Ceramic Analysis

Anthropogenic Sediments

Example: El Coyote

Isotopic Analyses

Bone Chemistry and Prehistoric Diet

Archaeological Thinking: Climate, Isotopes, and People

Human Provenience and Migration

Example: The First King of Copan

Organic Residues in Archaeology

Conclusions

Project: Bone Chemistry

Part IV. Interpretation

Chapter 16. Explanation in Archaeology

Introduction: Interpreting the Poast

Schools of Thought

Processual Archaeology

Example: A Crossroads Of Barrows

Archaeological Thinking: Mounds in Denmark

Example: The Collapse Of Maya Civilization

Archaeological Thinking: The End of the Maya

Post-Processual Archaeology

Example: The Rock Art Of Nämforsen, Sweden

Archaeological Thinking: Text on Stone

Evolution and Archaeology

Selectionist Archaeology

Example: Horses and Snowmobiles

Archaeological Thinking: Pots as Tools

Evolutionary Ecology

Example: The Emeryville Shellmound, California

Archaeological Thinking: Optimal Species

Gender Archaeology

Example: Aztec Women and State Economy

Archaeological Thinking: Gender and Government in Ancient Mexico

New Directions

Conclusions

Chapter 17. Responsibilities

Introduction: Archaeology Today

The Relevance of Archaeology>Example: Raised Fields of Tiwanaku

The Past Is Heritage

Example: UNESCO World Heritage

Protecting the Past: Abu Simbel

Example: The Archaeological Conservancy

Who Owns the Past?

Example: Kennewick Man

Ethics in Archaeology

Example: Donnan and Sipán

Example: The Ypres Battlefield

Teaching Archaeology

Example: Interest Groups in the Classroom

The Responsible Archaeologist

Conclusions

Project: Ethical Questions

Appendix 1: A Brief History of the Poast

Introduction: World Prehistory

Geological and Archaeological Time

Africa, Asia, and Europe

Deep Roots in Africa

Out of Africa

Neanderthal

The Creative Explosion

The Origins of Agriculture

States and Empires

The Americas

The First Americans

Farming Villages

States and Empires

The Pacific

Historical Archaeology

Conclusions

Appendix 2: Common Measurement Conversions and Equivalents

Credits

Bibliography

Index

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