Anthropology

The entries in this encyclopedia range from succinct summaries of specific sites and the scientific aspects of archaeological enquiry to detailed discussions of archaeological concepts, theories and methods, and from investigations into the social, ethical and political dimensions of archaeological practice to biographies of leading archaeologists from throughout the world. The different forms of archaeology are explored, along with the techniques used for each and the challenges, concerns and issues that face archaeologists today.

In this volume, the founder of processual archaeology, Lewis R. Binford collects and comments on the twenty-eight substantive papers published in the 1980's, the third in his set of collected papers (also Working at Archaeology and An Archaeological Perspective). This ongoing collection of self-edited papers, together with the extensive and very candid interstitial commentaries, provides an invaluable record of the development of The New Archaeology and a challenging view into the mind of the man who is certainly the most creative archaeological theorist of our time. A new (2009) foreword allows further reflections on his work.

Ethics in the field of archaeological research, particularly arising in response to the recent trend of contract archaeology, becomes increasingly more complicated as a result of changing human relations surrounding historical evidence. The past is in fact no dead and buried, and ethical questions about this living record demand an ongoing discussion within the complex social and cultural domains that contend to interpret this record. Authored largely by members of the Society for American Archaeology Ethics Committee, this volume of original articles tackles issues such as the origin of archaeological ethics, responsibilities to the archaeological record (including discussion of documented and undocumented excavation) and responsibilities to diverse publics and between those in the field. This work should fuel a necessary debate among professionals and students of archaeology alike.