Archaeological Artefacts as Material Culture

by Hurcombe; Linda

• ISBN13: 9780415320917
• ISBN10: 0415320917
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-19
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book is an introduction to the study of artefacts, setting them in a social context rather than using a purely scientific approach. Drawing on a range of different cultures and extensively illustrated, Archaeological Artefacts and Material Culture covers everything from recovery strategies and recording procedures to interpretation through typology, ethnography and experiment, and every type of material including wood, fibers, bones, hides and adhesives, stone, clay, and metals. With over seventy illustrations with almost fifty in full colour, this book not only provides the tools an archaeologist will need to interpret past societies from their artefacts, but also a keen appreciation of the beauty and tactility involved in working with these fascinating objects. This is a book no archaeologist should be without, but it will also appeal to anybody interested in the interaction between people and objects.

Author Biography

Linda Hurcombe is Head of the Department of Archaeology, Exeter University.

Table of Contents

List of tables and figures	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgements	p. xv
Deconstruction and analysis	p. 1
Introduction	p. 3
Artefacts from the ground	p. 14
Learning from contexts	p. 38
Making sense of artefacts	p. 54
Changing perspectives	p. 91
Materials and materiality	p. 107
Materiality	p. 109
Organic materials and artefacts	p. 119
Stone materials and artefacts	p. 146
Clay (and glass) materials and artefacts	p. 166
Metal materials and artefacts	p. 190
Artefacts as material culture: past, present, and future	p. 209
Bibliography	p. 212
Index	p. 278
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.