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  3. Archaeological Theory
  • Cited by 49
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
May 2010
Print publication year:
1993
Online ISBN:
9780511720277
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511720277
Subjects:
Archaeological Theory and Methods, Archaeology, Anthropology, Anthropological Theory
Series:
New Directions in Archaeology
Information

Book description

This volume assesses the real achievements of archaeology in increasing an understanding of the past. Without rejecting the insights either of traditional or more recent approaches, it considers the issues raised in current claims and controversies about what is appropriate theory for archaeology. The first section looks at the process of theory building and at the sources of the ideas employed. The following studies examine questions such as the interplay between expectation and evidence in ideas of human origins, social role and material practice in the formation of the archaeological record, and how the rise of states should be conceptualised; further papers cover issues of ethnoarchaeology, visual symbols, and conflicting claims to ownership of the past. The conclusion is that archaeologists need to be equally wary of naive positivism in the guise of scientific procedure, and of speculation about the unrecorded intentions of prehistoric actors.

Reviews

‘I recommend this provocative volume, in which I found much to think about, not least Sherratt’s plea that archaeologists - not the media, tour managers or politicians - should be the ones who set the agenda.’

Nick Saunders Source: New Scientist

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