| Abstract: |
The authors describe how ethnoarchaeology has expanded its scope and relevance over the past half-century from its beginnings as the study of ethnographic material culture from archaeological perspectives. The book's theoretical approaches embrace both the processualism of the New Archaeology and the post-processualism of the 1980s and 90s, and takes a case-study approach with global geographic and topical coverage, including consideration of materials in French and German. Three introductory chapters discuss the subject and its history, survey the broad range of theory involved, and discuss field methods and ethics. Ten topical chapters consider formation processes, subsistence, the study of artefacts and style, settlement systems, site structure and architecture, specialist craft production, trade and exchange, and mortuary practices and ideology. The book concludes with an appreciation of ethnoarchaeology's actual and potential contributions, and of its place within anthropology. |
