Archaeology: A Brief Introduction

by Fagan, Brian M.

• ISBN13: 9780130994363
• ISBN10: 0130994367
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

For introductory level courses in Archaeology and as a supplement for Physical Anthropology courses where the instructor integrates archaeology. This introduction to the fundamental principles of method and theory in Archaeology is the only book that also exposes students to archaeology as a career. The book begins with Archaeology's goals then considers the basic concepts of culture, time, space, and the finding and excavation of archaeological sites.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Author's Note	xii
About the Author	xiv
Fossils, Cities, and Civilizations: The Birth of a Science	1	(25)
What Is Archaeology?	4	(1)
The Beginnings of Archaeology	4	(5)
The Discovery of the Ancient Civilizations	9	(5)
Early American Archaeology	14	(4)
Diversity, Diffusion, and Human Progress	18	(1)
The Development of Modern Scientific Archaeology	19	(3)
``From Them to Us'': Contemporary Archaeological Theory	22	(2)
Summary	24	(2)
Introducing Archaeology and Prehistory	26	(26)
The Tourist, the Collector, and the Archaeologist	27	(6)
Who Needs and Owns the Past?	33	(1)
What Do Archaeologists Do?	34	(2)
Many Sites, Many Archaeologists	36	(2)
Why Is Archaeology Important?	38	(7)
The Prehistory of Humankind According to Archaeologists	45	(5)
Summary	50	(2)
Culture and Context	52	(21)
Human Culture	53	(2)
Cultural Systems	55	(6)
Culture Change	61	(1)
The Goals of Archaeology	62	(4)
The Archaeological Record	66	(4)
Context	70	(1)
Summary	71	(2)
Space and Time	73	(25)
Space	74	(5)
Time	79	(2)
Relative Chronology	81	(5)
Absolute (Chronometric) Chronology	86	(10)
Summary	96	(2)
Finding Archaeological Sites	98	(23)
The Process of Archaeological Research	99	(5)
Accidental Discovery	104	(2)
Archaeological Survey	106	(3)
Sampling and Archaeological Survey	109	(2)
Remote Sensing	111	(5)
Assessing Archaeological Sites	116	(2)
Subsurface Detection Systems	118	(2)
Summary	120	(1)
Excavation	121	(25)
Planned Excavation: Research Design	122	(3)
Types of Excavation	125	(5)
Digging, Tools, People	130	(3)
Recording	133	(1)
Stratigraphic Observation	134	(1)
Excavation Problems	135	(8)
Reburial and Repatriation	143	(2)
Summary	145	(1)
Classification and Technology	146	(32)
Back from the Field	147	(1)
Classification and Taxonomy	148	(2)
Typology	150	(1)
Archaeological Types	151	(10)
What Do Assemblages and Artifact Patternings Mean?	161	(3)
Units of Ordering	164	(3)
Ancient Technologies	167	(10)
Summary	177	(1)
The Present and the Past	178	(24)
The Archaeological Record Again	180	(1)
Site-formation Processes	181	(3)
Preservation	184	(9)
Middle-Range Theory and the Archaeological Record	193	(1)
The Living Past	193	(2)
Ethnographic Analogy	195	(1)
Living Archaeology (Ethnoarchaeology)	196	(3)
Experimental Archaeology	199	(1)
Summary	200	(2)
Ancient Climate and Environment	202	(21)
Short- and Long-term Climatic Change	203	(2)
Long-term Climate Change: The Great Ice Age	205	(6)
Pollen Analysis	211	(3)
Short-term Climatic Change: The Holocene	214	(1)
Short-term Climatic Change: El Nino	215	(7)
Summary	222	(1)
Come Tell Me How You Lived	223	(19)
Evidence for Subsistence	224	(1)
Ancient Diet	225	(2)
Animal Bones	227	(8)
Plant Remains	235	(3)
Birds, Fish, and Mollusks	238	(1)
Rock Art	239	(2)
Summary	241	(1)
Settlement and Trade	242	(23)
Settlement Patterns	244	(12)
Population	256	(2)
Trade and Exchange	258	(6)
Summary	264	(1)
The Archaeology of People	265	(22)
Individuals	266	(1)
Groups	267	(8)
Gender	275	(4)
Wider Society: Prestate and State Societies	279	(1)
Religious Beliefs	280	(6)
Summary	286	(1)
Explaining the Past	287	(21)
Interpretation of Culture History	288	(5)
Ecological/Environmental (Processual) Archaeology	293	(3)
Historical Materialist Approaches	296	(2)
Cognitive-Processual Archaeology	298	(4)
A Glance at the Future	302	(4)
Summary	306	(2)
Archaeology and You	308	(12)
Archaeology as a Profession	309	(4)
Academic Qualifications and Graduate School	313	(1)
Thoughts on Not Becoming a Professional Archaeologist	314	(2)
Our Responsibilities to the Past	316	(2)
A Simple Code of Archaeological Ethics for All	318	(1)
Summary	318	(2)
Sites and Cultures Mentioned in the Text	320	(7)
Guide to Further Reading	327	(11)
Glossary of Technical Terms	338	(10)
References	348	(1)
Illustration Credits	349	(2)
Index	351