Linking to the Past A Brief Introduction to Archaeology

by Feder, Kenneth L.

• ISBN13: 9780195331172
• ISBN10: 0195331176
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-12-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This thoroughly revised Second Edition of Linking to the Past features: * A completely reorganized structure that ensures all students take the same pathway to learning the material traditionally covered in an archaeology course * An expanded focus that covers the whole of the archaeological experience (including ceramics, theory, and human burials) and integrates examples from around the globe * Updated material on such cutting-edge technology and theory as transformation processes, GIS, Total Station, glacial dating, and aerial photography * Discussions of current issues facing archaeology, including federal legislation that protects archaeological sites * More in-depth coverage of the scientific method; the history and development of archaeology; various theoretical approaches; and the archaeology of social inequality, race, gender, and the sacred * An in-text CD with interactive student exercises and slide shows Written in a conversational style, Linking to the Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology, Second Edition, offers students a concise and entertaining introduction to archaeological methods. Author Kenneth L. Feder helps students relate to the study of the past and learn what it means to think like an archaeologist by using accessible examples drawn from daily life; he examines the evolution of the beer and soda can to teach about seriation, demonstrates how technology changes over time with an iPod, and introduces dendrochronology by discussing a tree that fell on his property during a storm. Employing an "ask-and-answer" approach, Feder leads students through a wide-ranging series of questions about how archaeologists find, recover, study, and interpret the material culture left behind by earlier peoples. To give students an opportunity to think like archaeologists, the author offers interactive student exercises and slide shows (provided on the in-text CD). Linked to chapters in the text, the exercises on the CD include exploring a topographic map to see what features might support human habitation, translating radiocarbon dates into calendar years, and calculating the age at death of a sample of human beings by examining their skeletal features. The text is also enriched by additional pedagogical features including detailed study questions at the end of each chapter, an extensive glossary of more than 200 key terms, and suggestions for further reading. An Instructor's Manual on CD is also available.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Past In The Present

Archaeology: The Study of the Human Past

The Context of Antiquity Shadow of the Past

How I Spent My Summer Vacation: Finding, Excavating, And Interpreting The Wood Lily Site In North-Central Connecticut

A Biography of Archaeology (Chapter 2)

What Archaeologists Want to Know (Chapter 3)

Doing Archaeology: Practical Considerations (Chapter 4)

A Community's Shadow: The Archaeological Site (Chapter 5)

Searching for the Past: Archaeological Site Survey (Chapter 6)

Revealing the Past: The Archaeological Excavation (Chapter 7)

Linked Slide Show Interpreting the Past: Gauging the Age of an Archaeological Site (Chapter 8)

Interpreting the Past: The Environmental Contexts of Antiquity (Chapter 9)

Technology: How People Made Things (Chapter 10)

Putting Food on the Table: Reconstructing Ancient Diets (Chapter 11)

Families, Neighbors,and Strangers: Reconstructing Ancient Social Systems (Chapter 12)

Conversing with the Dead: Bioarchaeology (Chapter 13)

Wood Lily: Archaeological Portrait of a Life (Chapter 14)

A Biography Of Archaeology

What Is Archaeology?

What Do We Mean by the Term Culture?

Is Archaeology a Science?

How Did Archaeology Get Started in the First Place?

Why Is Archaeology in the Anthropology Department?

Linked Interactive Exercise How Do You Get to Be an Archaeologist?

Who Owns the Past?

What Kinds of People Go into Archaeology?

What Archaeologists Want To Know

What Kinds of Research Goals Do Archaeologists Have?

Linked Interactive Exercise

What Is It That Archaeologists

Want to Find Out?

Is Garbage Really All That Informative on the Subject of Human Behavior?

Doing Archaeology: Practical Considerations

What Determines Where an Archaeologist Investigates in the First Place?

How Is Archaeological Research Funded, and Why?

What Laws Regulate Where Archaeologists Can Dig?

What Are the Ethical Obligations of Archaeologists?

Linked Interactive Exercise Who Gets to Dig at an Archaeological Site?

Is Archaeology Really a Dangerous Pursuit?

A Community's Shadow: The Archaeological Site

What Is an "Archaeological Site" and How Do You Know When You've Found One?

Linked Slide Show What Kinds of Stuff Do Archaeologists Find at Sites?

How Are Archaeological Sites Made?

Why Do Archaeologists Need to Dig; Why Are Most Sites Buried?

How Are Archaeological Sites Altered Once Buried?

Searching For The Past: Archaeological Site Survey

How Do Archaeologists Know Where to Look for Sites?

Linked Interactive Exercise How Can GIS Help Identify Places Where Sites Are Likely to Be Found?

What Are the Mechanics of Looking for and Finding Sites?

Linked Slide Show What Forms the Basis of an Archaeological "Sampling Strategy"?

How Can You Find Archaeological Sites Just by Walking Around?

How Deep Do You Have to Dig to Find Archaeological Material?

How Can Archaeologists Probe the Subsurface Without Digging Holes?

Trevealing The Past: The Archaeological Excavation

How Is Archaeological Research Like Detective Work?

How Do You Measure and Record the Precise Location of a Site?

How Are Archaeological Sites Named?

How Do Archaeologists Excavate Sites?

Linked Slide Show Why Are Archa

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