Linking to the Past A Brief Introduction to Archaeology includes CD-ROM

by Feder, Kenneth L.

• ISBN13: 9780195159196
• ISBN10: 0195159195
• Edition: CD
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-02-26
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Linking to the Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology offers a new and exciting way for students to learn about the methods that archaeologists use to reveal the human past. Featuring an innovative "hyperlink" format of interconnected ideas, anecdotes, and lessons, the text and itsaccompanying CD provide an engaging introduction to archaeology. Employing an accessible and conversational writing style, Kenneth L. Feder describes the archaeological excavation and analysis of a three-thousand-year-old village site located in Connecticut. Woven into this narrative is an overviewof the methods archaeologists use to find, recover, study, and interpret the material culture left behind by past people. The narrative serves as a framework that leads students into general questions about how archaeologists work, such as: How do archaeologists find sites? How do they know how olda site is? and How can they trace the sources of raw materials? These questions are addressed throughout the book. Linking to the Past explains how recovered objects such as bones, seeds, stone flakes, and ceramic fragments can lend insight into the occupations, dwellings, diets, social relationships, religious practices, and physical characteristics of people who lived in the past. It also addresses manypractical aspects of archaeological research, including methods for identification and excavation of sites, absolute and relative dating of objects, and recording and reporting of archaeological findings. Features: * Innovative hyperlink format: The unique hyperlink organization gives the printed text the feel of a website, as the material is presented in a manner that mirrors the way students might explore archaeology on their own. Students can interact with the text, easily moving back and forthbetween related topics. * Engaging first-person narrative: Feder describes one of his own archaeological investigations in order to walk students through the ideas and processes involved in archaeological fieldwork. He also addresses general questions about archaeological methodology that are inspired by the narrative. * CD packaged with every text: The in-text CD-ROM includes the entire printed text with the exception of the study questions, which are found only in the book. The CD also provides hyperlinks from the questions to their detailed answers and contains glossary terms with pronunciations and an imagebank of color photos. * Extensive glossary: The glossary includes more than two hundred terms and concepts central to understanding archaeology. * Instructor's Manual and Test Bank CD-ROM: Includes a list of glossary terms, short essay questions, and multiple choice questions. Also features a transition guide which makes it easier to understand how the units in the book correspond to how an instructor currently structures his/hercourse.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Prologue: How to Use Linking to the past	1	(6)
Introduction	7	(7)
An Archaeological Narrative: How I Spent my Summer Vacation	14	(3)
UNIT 1
What Is Archaeology?	17	(12)
What Do We Mean by the Term Culture?	20	(4)
How Did Archaeology Get Started in the First Place?	24	(4)
Is Garbage Really All That Informative on the Subject of Human Behavior?	28	(1)
How Do You Get to Be an Archaeologist?	29	(16)
Who Owns the Past?	32	(4)
What Kinds of People Go into Archaeology?	36	(9)
UNIT 2
What Determines What an Archaeologist Investigates in the First Place?	45	(2)
What Laws Regulate Where Archaeologists Can Dig?	47	(3)
What Is an ``Archaeological Site'' and How Do You Know When You've Found One?	50	(5)
UNIT 3
What Kinds of Stuff Do Archaeologists Find?	55	(4)
How Are Archaeological Sites Made?	59	(5)
How Can You Find Archaeological Sites Just by Walking Around?	64	(6)
How Old Does Something Have to Be in Order to Be Considered ``Archaeological''?	70	(4)
Why Do Archaeologists Need to Dig; Why Are Most Sites Buried?	74	(2)
How Deep Do You Have to Dig to Find Archaeological Material?	76	(9)
UNIT 4
How Do Archaeologists Know Where to Dig to Find Sites?	85
What Forms the Basis of an Archaeological ``Sampling Strategy''?	90	(93)
What Are the Mechanics of Looking for and Finding Sites?	93	(8)
How Do You Determine the Precise Location of a Site?	98	(3)
What Preliminary Work Goes into an Archaeology Laboratory?	101	(7)
UNIT 5
What Kinds of Research Goals Do Archaeologists Have?	108	(4)
How Is Archaeological Research Funded, and Why?	112	(3)
What Is It that Archaeologists Want to Find Out?	115	(2)
Is Archaeology Really a Dangerous Pursuit?	117	(7)
UNIT 6
How Do Archaeologists Know How Old Artifacts and Sites Are?	124	(30)
What Are Relative Dating Techniques?	125	(9)
How Can You Date Sites by Stratigraphic Analysis?	126	(3)
How Can You Determine a Relative Date for a Site by Reference to Artifact Style?	129	(5)
What Are Chronometric or Absolute Dating Methods?	134	(20)
What Are the Most Commonly Used Radiometric Dating Methods Relied on by Archaeologists?	135	(8)
How Does Dendrochronology Work?	143	(3)
How Can You Determine an Absolute Date for a Site by Reference to Style?	146	(8)
UNIT 7
How Can the Location of Archaeological Sites Be Accurately Predicted?	154	(5)
How Can Landscape Characteristics Be Examined to Help Identify Places Where Sites Are Likely to Be Found?	156	(3)
How Are Archaeological Sites Named?	159	(1)
How Can You Determine the Size of an Ancient Habitation?	160	(2)
Who Gets to Dig at an Archaeological Site?	162	(5)
UNIT 8
Why Do Archaeologists Want to Know about Ancient Environments and How Do They Do It?	167	(5)
How Is Archaeological Research Like Detective Work?	172	(1)
How Do Archaeologists Excavate Sites?	173	(10)
How Do Archaeologists Keep Track of Where Stuff Is Found at Sites?	175	(8)
UNIT 9
What Is an Excavation Unit and How Is It Labeled?	183	(2)
Why Do Archaeologists Save All the Tiny Scraps of Stone, Bone, and Other Stuff?	185	(3)
How Can You Identify Tree Species from Bits of Burned Wood?	187	(1)
What Tools Do Archaeologists Use to Expose and Recover Artifacts?	188	(10)
UNIT 10
What Are the Characteristics That Make a Rock Type Attractive to Tool Makers?	198	(2)
How Can You Determine the Source of a Raw Material Used by Ancient People?	200	(2)
How Do Archaeologists Figure Out How Ancient People Made Their Tools?	202	(4)
How Did Ancient People Make Stone Tools?	206	(4)
Why Are Archaeologists So Painstaking and Slow in Excavation?	210	(1)
How Do Archaeologists Figure Out the Function of an Ancient Tool?	211	(3)
How Do Archaeologists Figure Out the Function of a Site?	214	(1)
Why Is Pottery of Such Great Importance to Archaeologists?	215	(3)
How Do Archaeologists Investigate the Spread of Ideas or Inventions?	218	(9)
UNIT 11
How Do Archaeologists Know What Foods Ancient People Ate?	227	(17)
Why Do Archaeologists Want to Know the Animal Species Exploited by Ancient People?	234	(3)
How Can You Tell What Kind of Animal Was Killed or Butchered with an Ancient Stone Tool?	237	(2)
How Can You Tell What Kinds of Plants Were Collected or Processed with an Ancient Stone Tool?	239	(2)
How Can You Determine the Importance of an Animal Species in a People's Diet?	241	(2)
How Does Skeletal Chemistry Help us Reconstruct an Ancient Diet?	243	(1)
How Can the Season of a Village's Occupation Be Determined?	244	(8)
UNIT 12
Can Archaeologists Figure Out the Social Relationships of Past People?	252	(12)
Can Archaeologists Figure Out the Roles of Males and Females in Ancient Societies?	256	(5)
How Does an Archaeologist Approach Issues of Economic, Social, and Political Inequality in an Ancient Society?	261	(3)
Can Archaeologists Reconstruct Ancient Religious Practices?	264	(3)
How Can Archaeologists Reveal Ways of Life of People Whose Reality Was So Different from Our Own?	267	(6)
UNIT 13
Why Are Archaeologists Interested in Human Bones and Why Is This a Contentious Issue?	273	(24)
How Can You Determine the Sex of a Person from His or Her Skeleton?	276	(3)
How Can You Determine the Age of a Person from His or Her skeleton?	279	(8)
How Can You Determine the Health of a Person from His or Her Skeleton?	287	(5)
How Can You Determine the Ethnic Identity of a Person from His or Her Skeleton?	292	(5)
UNIT 14
Wood Lily: Portrait of a Life: Food for Thought	297	(7)
UNIT 15
Wood Lily: Portrait of a Life: Tools of the Trade	304	(7)
Epilogue: Can We Reconstruct the Past?	311	(3)
Glossary	314	(37)
References	351	(12)
Index	363