Invitation To Archaeology

"James Deetz explores the principles, methods, and problems of the present-day archaeologist from the viewpoint of how he works, the nature of his evidence and how it is analyzed, and where archaeology fits into the broader scheme of anthropological study. Excavation, radiocarbon dating, form analysis, space-time slope patterns, as well as the context, function, and structure of uncovered artifacts and sites are all carefully considered; and their role in piecing together cultures of the past is discussed."--Jacket.

Includes brief examination of Australian situation.

Review of the field for the amateur archaeologist, the beginning student, and the general reader.

« Invitation to Vernacular Architecture: A Guide to the Study of Ordinary Buildings and Landscapes is a manual for exploring and interpreting vernacular architecture, the common buildings of particular regions and time periods. Thomas Carter and Elizabeth Collins Cromley provide a comprehensive introduction to the field. » « Rich with illustrations and written in a clear and jargon-free style, Invitation to Vernacular Architecture is an ideal text for courses in architecture, material culture studies, historic preservation, American studies, and history, and a useful guide for anyone interested in the built environment. »--

Performances in the premodern communities shaped identities, created meanings, generated and maintained political control. But unlike other social scientists, archaeologists have not worked much with these concepts. Archaeology of Performance shows how the notions of theatricality and spectacle are as important economics and politics in understanding how ancient communities work. Without sacrificing conceptual rigor, the contributors draw on the wide-ranging literature on performance. Without sacrificing material evidence, they try to see how performance creates meaning and ideology. Drawing on evidence from societies large and small, Archaeology of Performance offers an important new ways of understanding ancient theaters of power.

Archeology shares with other anthropological sciences the goal of explaining differences and similarities among cultural systems. Sally R. Binford and Lewis R. Binford, therefore are concerned with theory and arguments which treat problems of the interrelationship of cultural variables with explanatory value. Archeology in Cultural Systems is devoted to four different aspects of archeology. This book progresses from theoretical-methodological discussions to specific consideration of archeological materials. It focuses on the analysis of archeological remains from a single site. Its concern is primarily with recognizing, measuring and explaining variability in the form and distribution of a site's cultural remains. The authors argue that internal variability derives from the composition and distribution of societal segments represented at the site. The work then shifts to study of archeological components (or their attributes) and seeks explanations for observed differences and similarities. A final section of the volume comments and discusses materials in the volume. Archeology in Cultural Systems is not a monolithic presentation of any particular school of archeological thought. There are common interests and many points of agreement among the authors, but there is also diversity of opinion on several points. These points are the focus of research here. Lewis R. Binford is professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of New Mexico. He is the author of In Pursuit of the Past: Decoding the Archaeological Record and Constructing Frames of Reference: An Analytical Method for Archaeological Theory Building Using Hunter-Gatherer and Environmental Data Sets. Sally R. Binford was professor of anthropology at the University of New Mexico. She is the author of Stone Tools and Human Behavior.