Understanding the Archaeological Record
Understanding the Archaeological Record
This book explores the diverse understandings of the archaeological record in both historical and contemporary perspective, while also serving as a guide to reassessing current views. Gavin Lucas argues that archaeological theory has become both too fragmented and disconnected from the particular nature of archaeological evidence. The book examines three ways of understanding the archaeological record - as historical sources, through formation theory and as material culture - then reveals ways to connect these three domains through a reconsideration of archaeological entities and archaeological practice. Ultimately, Lucas calls for a rethinking of the nature of the archaeological record and the kind of history and narratives written from it.
- Examines views of the archaeological record in an international perspective
- Stresses the importance of linking theory to the particular characteristics of archaeological evidence
- Re-thinks the nature of social archaeology
Reviews & endorsements
'This is a bold book and worth reading by all theoretically minded scholars.' European Journal of Archaeology
'Lucas's book brings a new complexity to the concept of the archaeological record.' R. Carl DeMuth, Canadian Journal of Archaeology
Product details
May 2012Paperback
9780521279697
322 pages
229 × 153 × 17 mm
0.43kg
21 b/w illus. 6 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. The trouble with theory
- 2. The total record
- 3. Formation theory
- 4. Materialized culture
- 5. Archaeological entities
- 6. Archaeological interventions
- 7. A 'new' social archaeology?
