Archaeological Theory in Practice

by Patricia A. Urban, Edward Schortman

Many students view archaeological theory as a subject distinct from field research.　 This division is reinforced by the way theory is taught, often in stand-alone courses that focus more on logic and reasoning than on the application of ideas to fieldwork. Divorcing thought from action does not convey how archaeologists go about understanding the past.

This book bridges the gap between theory and practice by looking in detail at how the authors and their colleagues used theory to interpret what they found while conducting research in northwest Honduras. This is not a linear narrative. Rather, the book highlights the open-ended nature of archaeological investigations in which theories guide research whose findings may challenge these initial interpretations and lead in unexpected directions. Pursuing those novel investigations requires new theories that are themselves subject to refutation by newly gathered data. The central case study is the writers’ work in Honduras. The interrelations of fieldwork, data, theory, and interpretation are also illustrated with two long-running archaeological debates, the emergence of inequality in southern Mesopotamia and inferring the ancient meanings of Stonehenge.　

The book is of special interest to undergraduate Anthropology/Archaeology majors and first- and second-year graduate students, along with anyone interested in how archaeologists convert the static materials we find into dynamic histories of long-vanished people.　

Genres: Anthropology

383 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 15, 2011

Reviews

[ALL · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative introduction. As someone who tried to read a more advanced text, and then read this one, and then re-read the more advanced text, I realized I had missed a lot of the detail, especially in organization, that is explained in introductory archaeological texts. I was then able to backtrack into my understanding of theories from different social science perspectives and learn how archaeologists pick, choose, and borrow theoretical concepts based on the contexts they are working in. There really is a plethora of theoretical possibilities to make archaeological data more accessible, but it can be a bit frustrating for other social scientists when they learn how archaeologists manipulate theories which are also originating from their own historical contexts. I was lucky in having studied under someone who had fought, effectively, this very real pushback within the historical sciences in particular. I had not known archaeology was a historical discipline where this practice was widely accepted as the norm. It is also a very humble read, reinforcing the reality that archaeology in particular is an academic conversation that is constantly in flux, sometimes at the whim of an undergraduate with a shovel.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book on archaeological theory I have ever read. Great explanations and no tediously long and complicated sentences like most books on theory. READ THIS BOOK.

[Mills College Library]

930.1 A6693 2012