Archaeological Thought in America
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Revised ed., 3/28/1991
EAN 9780521406437, ISBN10: 0521406439
Paperback, 366 pages, 24.6 x 18.9 x 2.1 cm
Language: English
American archaeology today encompasses a huge range of approaches and draws eclectically on a multitude of academic disciplines. Until now, however, there has been no book seeking to separate the main strands and traditions of research and present a rounded picture of American archaeological thought in all its diversity. The seventeen essays in Archaeological Thought in America describe recent theoretical advances and present substantive interpretations of prehistoric data drawn from a variety of cultures and time-frames, including Mesoamerica, Central Asia, India and China. The contributors include many of the leading North American archaeologists of this generation.
List of illustrations
Introduction C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky
Part I. History, Method and Theory
1. History and contemporary American archaeology
a critical analysis Bruce G. Trigger
2. Aspects of the application of evolutionary theory in archaeology Robert C. Dunnell
3. The 'New Archaeology', then and now Lewis R, Binford
4. Marxism in American archaeology Antonio Gilman
5. Formal approaches in archaeology George L. Cowgill
6. Ideology and evolutionism in American archaeology
looking beyond the economic base Arthur A. Demarest
7. The present and the future of hunter-gatherers studies John E. Yellen
8. Paleopathology and the interpretation of economic change in prehistory Mark C. Cohen
Part II. Archaeology in the Americas and Beyond
9. The structural analysis of Paleolithic art Margaret W. Conkey
10. Ancient China and its anthropological significance Kwang-Chih Chang
11. Settlement pattern studies and evidences for intensive agriculture in the Maya Lowlands Gordon R. Willey
12. The political economy of the Inka empire
the archaeology of power and finance Timothy K. Early and Terence N. D'Altroy
13. An epigenetic view of the Harappan culture W. A. Fairservis
14. The use and abuse of world systems theory
the case of the 'pristine' West Asian state Philip L. Kohl
15. Mesopotamia, Central Asia and the Indus Valley
so the Kings were killed C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky
16. New tracks on ancient frontiers
ceramic technology on the Indo-Iranian Borderlands Rita P. Wright
17. Pastoralism and the early state in Greater Mesopotamia Allen Zagarell
References
Index.