Archaeology and its Discontents

Why Archaeology Matters
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-0-367-55645-7
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 180 Seiten, Format (B × H): 150 mm x 233 mm, Gewicht: 354 g

Reihe: Themes in Archaeology Series

Archaeology and its Discontents examines the state of archaeology today and its development throughout the twentieth century, making a powerful case for new approaches.

Surveying the themes of twentieth-century archaeological theory, Barrett looks at their successes, limitations, and failures. Seeing more failures and limitations than successes, he argues that archaeology has over-focused on explaining the human construction of material variability and should instead be more concerned with understanding how human diversity has been constructed. Archaeology matters, he argues, precisely because of the insights it can offer into the development of human diversity. The analysis and argument are illustrated throughout by reference to the development of the European Neolithic.

Arguing both for new approaches and for the importance of archaeology as a discipline, Archaeology and its Discontents is for archaeologists at all levels, from student to professor and trainee to experienced practitioner.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Barrett, John C.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Enzyklopädien, Nachschlagewerke, Wörterbücher
• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Architektur: Allgemeines
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophie: Allgemeines, Methoden

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction 1. Explanation and understanding 2. The archaeological record 3. Systems and the dynamics of historical change: The New Archaeology 4. A Social Archaeology 5. From functionalism to a symbolic and structural archaeology 6. The evolution of ecosystems 7. The making of populations 8. The cultures of life Epilogue

Über Autor(innen)

John C. Barrett is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield, having previously taught at the Universities of Leeds and Glasgow. He is the author of Fragments from Antiquity (1994) and co-author, with Michael Boyd, of From Stonehenge to Mycenae (2019). His research has focused upon British and European prehistory and archaeological theory.