Author: Andrew S. Fairbairn
Publisher: ANU E Press
ISBN: 1921536497
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274
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Book Description
Archaeological Science meetings will have a personality of their own depending on the focus of the host archaeological fraternity itself. The 8th Australasian Archaeometry meeting follows this pattern but underlying the regional emphasis is the continuing concern for the processes of change in the landscape that simultaneously effect and illuminate the archaeological record. These are universal themes for any archaeological research with the increasing employment of science-based studies proving to be a key to understanding the place of humans as subjects and agents of change over time. This collection of refereed papers covers the thematic fields of geoarchaeology, archaeobotany, materials analysis and chronometry, with particular emphasis on the first two. The editors Andrew Fairbairn, Sue O'Connor and Ben Marwick outline the special value of these contributions in the introduction. The international nature of archaeological science will mean that the advances set out in these papers will find a receptive audience among many archaeologists elsewhere. There is no doubt that the story that Australasian archaeology has to tell has been copiously enriched by incorporating a widening net of advanced science-based studies. This has brought attention to the nature of the environment as a human artefact, a fact now more widely appreciated, and archaeology deals with these artefacts, among others, in this way in this publication.
Author: Catherine Kearns
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501732714
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 469
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Book Description
New Directions in Cypriot Archaeology highlights current scholarship that employs a range of new techniques, methods, and theoretical approaches to questions related to the archaeology of the prehistoric and protohistoric periods on the island of Cyprus. From revolutions in radiocarbon dating, to the compositional analysis of ceramic remains, to the digital applications used to study landscape histories at broad scales, to rethinking human-environment/climate interrelationships, the last few decades of research on Cyprus invite inquiry into the implications of these novel archaeological methods for the field and its future directions. This edited volume gathers together a new generation of scholars who offer a revealing exploration of these insights as well as challenges to big questions in Cypriot archaeology, such as the rise of social complexity, urban settlement histories, and changes in culture and identity. These enduring topics provide the foundation for investigating the benefits and challenges of twenty-first-century methods and conceptual frameworks. Divided into three main sections related to critical chronological transitions, from earliest prehistory to the development of autonomous kingdoms during the Iron Age, each contribution exposes and engages with a different advance in studies of material culture, absolute dating, paleoenvironmental analysis, and spatial studies using geographic information systems. From rethinking the chronological transitions of the Early Bronze Age, to exploring regional craft production regimes of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, to locating Iron Age cemeteries through archival topographic maps, these exciting and pioneering authors provide innovative ways of thinking about Cypriot archaeology and its relationship to the wider discipline. List of Contributors: Georgia M. Andreou, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Classics, Cornell University Stella Diakou, Postdoctoral Fellow, Archaeological Research Unit, University of Cyprus Maria Dikomitou-Eliadou, Postdoctoral Fellow, Archaeological Research Unit, University of Cyprus David Frankel, Professor Emeritus of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University Artemis Georgiou, Marie Curie Research Fellow, Archaeological Research Unit, University of Cyprus Catherine Kearns, Assistant Professor of Classics, University of Chicago Sturt W. Manning, Goldwin Smith Professor of Classical Archaeology, Cornell University Eilis Monahan, PhD Candidate, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University Charalambos Paraskeva, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus Anna Satraki, Director of Larnaka District Museum, Department of Antiquities of Cyprus Matthew Spigelman, ACME Heritage Consultants, Partner
Author: Michael Haslam
Publisher: ANU E Press
ISBN: 1921536853
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 278
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Book Description
These highly varied studies, spanning the world, demonstrate how much modern analyses of microscopic traces on artifacts are altering our perceptions of the past. Ranging from early humans to modern kings, from ancient Australian spears or Mayan pots to recent Maori cloaks, the contributions demonstrate how starches, raphides, hair, blood, feathers, resin and DNA have become essential elements in archaeology¿s modern arsenal for reconstructing the daily, spiritual, and challenging aspects of ancient lives and for understanding human evolution. The book is a fitting tribute to Tom Loy, the pioneer of residue studies and gifted teacher who inspired and mentored these exciting projects.
Author: George Robert Rapp
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300109660
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 357
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Book Description
Considering the history and theory of geoarchaeology, this book discusses soils and environmental interpretations; initial context and site formation; methods of discovery and spatial analyses; estimating time; and others. It is for all professionals and students interested in the field of geoarchaeology
Author: Lynne Alison Schepartz
Publisher: ASCSA
ISBN: 0876615434
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306
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Book Description
The papers in this book reflect current studies being conducted in the field of bioarchaeology in Greece. The authors present material ranging in date from the Palaeolithic to modern times. Biological anthropologists working in the Mediterranean region can draw on a wealth of archaeological and documentary evidence to inform their hypotheses. This book shows how scientific approaches to the past are shedding new light on previously insoluble questions. In addition to presenting a number of case studies, the editors provide a synthetic survey of the subject.
Author: Catherine Kearns
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501732706
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313
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Book Description
New Directions in Cypriot Archaeology highlights current scholarship that employs a range of new techniques, methods, and theoretical approaches to questions related to the archaeology of the prehistoric and protohistoric periods on the island of Cyprus. From revolutions in radiocarbon dating, to the compositional analysis of ceramic remains, to the digital applications used to study landscape histories at broad scales, to rethinking human-environment/climate interrelationships, the last few decades of research on Cyprus invite inquiry into the implications of these novel archaeological methods for the field and its future directions. This edited volume gathers together a new generation of scholars who offer a revealing exploration of these insights as well as challenges to big questions in Cypriot archaeology, such as the rise of social complexity, urban settlement histories, and changes in culture and identity. These enduring topics provide the foundation for investigating the benefits and challenges of twenty-first-century methods and conceptual frameworks. Divided into three main sections related to critical chronological transitions, from earliest prehistory to the development of autonomous kingdoms during the Iron Age, each contribution exposes and engages with a different advance in studies of material culture, absolute dating, paleoenvironmental analysis, and spatial studies using geographic information systems. From rethinking the chronological transitions of the Early Bronze Age, to exploring regional craft production regimes of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, to locating Iron Age cemeteries through archival topographic maps, these exciting and pioneering authors provide innovative ways of thinking about Cypriot archaeology and its relationship to the wider discipline. List of Contributors: Georgia M. Andreou, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Classics, Cornell University Stella Diakou, Postdoctoral Fellow, Archaeological Research Unit, University of Cyprus Maria Dikomitou-Eliadou, Postdoctoral Fellow, Archaeological Research Unit, University of Cyprus David Frankel, Professor Emeritus of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University Artemis Georgiou, Marie Curie Research Fellow, Archaeological Research Unit, University of Cyprus Catherine Kearns, Assistant Professor of Classics, University of Chicago Sturt W. Manning, Goldwin Smith Professor of Classical Archaeology, Cornell University Eilis Monahan, PhD Candidate, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University Charalambos Paraskeva, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus Anna Satraki, Director of Larnaka District Museum, Department of Antiquities of Cyprus Matthew Spigelman, ACME Heritage Consultants, Partner
Author: Mary E. Malainey
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1441957049
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 600
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Book Description
Many archaeologists, as primarily social scientists, do not have a background in the natural sciences. This can pose a problem because they need to obtain chemical and physical analyses on samples to perform their research. This manual is an essential source of information for those students without a background in science, but also a comprehensive overview that those with some understanding of archaeological science will find useful. The manual provides readers with the knowledge to use archaeological science methods to the best advantage. It describes and explains the analytical techniques in a manner that the average archaeologist can understand, and outlines clearly the requirements, benefits, and limitations of each possible method of analysis, so that the researcher can make informed choices. The work includes specific information about a variety of dating techniques, provenance studies, isotope analysis as well as the analysis of organic (lipid and protein) residues and ancient DNA. Case studies illustrating applications of these approaches to most types of archaeological materials are presented and the instruments used to perform the analyses are described. Available destructive and non-destructive approaches are presented to help archaeologists select the most effective technique for gaining the target information from the sample. Readers will reach for this manual whenever they need to decide how to best analyze a sample, and how the analysis is performed.
Author: Norman Yoffee
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521449588
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 156
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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.
Author: Anthony M. Snodgrass
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520078926
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 235
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Book Description
Classical archaeology probably enjoys a wider appeal than any other branch of classical or archaeological studies. As an intellectual and academic discipline, however, its esteem has not matched its popularity. Here, Anthony Snodgrass argues that classical archaeology has a rare potential in the whole field of the study of the past to make innovative discoveries and apply modern approaches by widening the aims of the discipline.
Author: M. Steven Shackley
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816550034
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264
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Book Description
Obsidian was long valued by ancient peoples as a raw material for producing stone tools, and archaeologists have increasingly come to view obsidian studies as a crucial aid in understanding the past. Steven Shackley now shows how the geochemical and contextual analyses of archaeological obsidian can be applied to the interpretation of social and economic organization in the ancient Southwest. This book, the capstone of decades of investigation, integrates a wealth of obsidian research in one volume. It covers advances in analytical chemistry and field petrology that have enhanced our understanding of obsidian source heterogeneity, presents the most recent data on and interpretations of archaeological obsidian sources in the Southwest, and explores the ethnohistorical and contemporary background for obsidian use in indigenous societies. Shackley provides a thorough examination of the geological origin of obsidian in the region and the methods used to collect raw material and determine its chemical composition, and descriptions of obsidian sources throughout the Southwest. He then describes the occurrence of obsidian artifacts and shows how their geochemical fingerprints allow archaeologists to make conclusions regarding the procurement of obsidian. The book presents three groundbreaking applications of obsidian source studies. It first discusses an application to early Preceramic groups, showing how obsidian sources can reflect the range they inhabited over time as well as their social relationships during the Archaic period. It then offers an examination of the Late Classic Salado in Arizona’s Tonto Basin, where obsidian data, along with ceramic and architectural evidence, suggest that Mogollon migrants lived in economic and social harmony with the Hohokam, all the while maintaining relationships with their homeland. Finally, it provides an intensive look at social identity and gender differences in the Preclassic Hohokam of central Arizona, where obsidian source provenance and projectile point styles suggest that male Hohokam sought to create a stylistically defined identity in at least three areas of the Hohokam core area. These male “sodalities” were organized quite differently from female ceramic production groups. Today, obsidian research in the American Southwest enjoys an equal standing with ceramic, faunal, and floral studies as a method of revealing social process and change in prehistory. Shackley’s book discusses the ways in which archaeologists should approach obsidian research, no matter what the region, offering a thorough survey of archaeological obsidian studies that will have methodological and theoretical applications worldwide. The volume includes an extensive glossary created specifically for archaeologists.
