Archaeology

by Kevin Greene, Tom Moore

An Introduction looks behind the popular aspects of archaeology such as the discovery and excavation of sites, the study of human remains and animal bones, radiocarbon dating, museums and 'heritage' displays, and reveals the methods used by archaeologists. It also explains how the subject emerged from an amateur pursuit in the eighteenth century into a serious discipline, and explores changing fashions in interpretation in recent decades. This fifth edition has been updated by a new co-author, Tom Moore, and continues to include key references and guidance to help new readers find their way through the ever expanding range of archaeological publications. It conveys the excitement of new archaeological discoveries that appear on television or in newspapers while helping readers to evaluate them by explaining the methods and theories that lie behind them. Above all, while serving as a lucid textbook, it remains a very accessible account that will interest a wide readership. In addition to drawing upon examples and case studies from many regions of the world and periods of the past, it incorporates the authors' own fieldwork, research and teaching and features a new four-colour text design and colour illustrations plus an additional 50 topic boxes. The comprehensive glossary and bibliography are complemented by a support website hosted by Routledge to assist further study and wider learning. It includes chapter overviews, a testbank of questions, powerpoint discussion questions, web-links to support material for every chapter plus an online glossary and image bank. New to the fifth Visit the companion website at www.routledge.com/textbooks/greene for additional resources,

Genres: Archaeology, Nonfiction, History, Anthropology

416 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 1983

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

You really have to be something of an archaeology geek for Kevin Greene's Introduction: The History, Priciples and Methods of Modern Archaeology to be for you.

This is not a slick book for general consumption. It is a deceptively long textbook and basic introduction to many of the issues facing archaeology throughout its long life from antiquarianism to today. It is very much for the archaeology beginner, but if you contain even a touch of interest in the subject, Greene's book should deepen your interest and give you a decent grounding in history, excavation, dating, archaeological science and a taste of how theory is coming to dominate the field.

The strongest aspect of Greene's book is the way in which he reminds us that there are few "true" answers in archaeology. Archaeology is a field that offers us artefacts without complete contexts, and the contexts we are able to generate for the artefacts, no matter how accurate they may be, are always tainted by our own biases and our present. Even radiocarbon dating, one of the great strengths of modern archaeology has a margin of error that makes perfect dating impossible.

Greene crafts a solid argument that this "imperfection" in archaeology is one of its greatest attributes, giving archaeology an exciting, mutable quality that other disciplines could benefit from.

He also strips away the recent antiquarian romanticism of Indiana Jones' grave robbing adventures, and delivers beginners with the truth about archaeology as a career -- it can be tedious and boring. Archaeology, as Greene rightly explains is often totally cerebral work. It can include the counting of thousands of kernels of pollen. It can include the meticulous cleaning of bones and remains. It can include the slow uncovering of artefacts with small shovels and brushes before undergoing a slow and equally meticulous process of preservation. It can include local politics, national politics and a constant struggle for money and against money. It can include endless hours of thinking and reading and considering. And it is a field that is shrinking as the world's finite artefacts are destroyed or gathered.

But if the reader is still interested in archaeology after all this, Greene provides the most extensive "further reading" list I have seen for quite sometime. Whatever catches your fancy, Greene's got books for you to read. And read them I will.

If there is any weakness in Greene's book it is his assumption that his readers inherently understand the lingo of archaeology -- most of his readers will be beginners, after all. He fails to provide a glossary, and quite often the terminology is indecipherable from the context of a paragraph or section.

Still, this is no reason to avoid Greene. Just grab yourself a good dictionary and you should be fine.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gets a bum rap. Many reviewers are disappointed that it is not a field manual that teaches you how to do archaeology. The textbook takes a historical approach to the field of archaeology and covers the evolution of methods. It is well footnoted and there are further reading recommendations to the field manuals, lab manuals, and theoretical works that would fill the education in archaeology. It is appropriate for use at the undergraduate lower division level in an introductory course. The book is written for a British audience with most examples pulled from the archaeology of Roman Britain, but does also reference continental and American contributions to the field. The final chapter does effectively deal with the current 21st Century theoretical debates in the field laying out current controversies, so that someone considering working in the field can figure out in which camp they fit (which will be of extreme importance in choosing a PhD program in the future).

[Maja - BibliophiliaDK ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well rounded introduction to the theory and practise of archaeology. It provides an overall view of the history of archaeology as a field and a deeper look into how to work with archaeology. The only thing I felt was a little lacking at times were the deeper insights, but that's probably because I use this book for a University course on archaeology, and compared to that class, this bok is a little superficial

[Neil Mcdonnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good and well rounded read. Not so much for the casual reader, but more suited for undergraduate reading.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Darrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good textbook introducing the history, main ideas, and key methodologies of archaeology. This particular edition is now somewhat out of date, but the latest edition (written with Tom Moore) is excellent, up to date, and highly recommended.

[Lee Broderick · Rating 2 out of 5]

An introductory textbook that somewhat suffers in terms of its scope when compared with Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice.

[Mer Less · Rating 3 out of 5]

As it say on tin, introduction to archaeology don't expect too much but it is, on the other hand, a solid introduction to archaeology