Digging, recording, and writing are the three main processes that archaeologists undertake to analyze a site, yet the relationships between these processes is rarely considered critically. Reconsidering Archaeological Fieldwork asserts that each of these processes involves at least a bit of subjective interpretation. As a group of archaeologists work together to reconstruct an objective view of the past, at a particular time, at a particular site, their field methods and subjective interpretations affect the final analysis. This volume explores the important nature of the relationship between fieldwork, analysis, and interpretation. Containing contributions from a diverse group of archaeologists, both academic and professional, from Europe and the Americas, it critically analyzes accepted practices in field archaeology, and provide thoughtful and innovative analysis of these procedures. By combining the experiences of both academic and professional archaeologists, Reconsidering Archaeological Fieldwork highlights key differences and key similarities in their concerns, theories, and techniques. This volume will incite discussion on fundamental questions for all archaeologists, both old and new to the field.

Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium provides an account of the changing world of archaeological theory and a challenge to more traditional narratives of archaeological thought. It charts the emergence of the new emphasis on relations as well as engaging with other current theoretical trends and the thinkers archaeologists regularly employ. Bringing together different strands of global archaeological theory and placing them in dialogue, the book explores the similarities and differences between different contemporary trends in theory while also highlighting potential strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. Written in a way to maximise its accessibility, in direct contrast to many of the sources on which it draws, Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium is an essential guide to cutting-edge theory for students and for professionals wishing to reacquaint themselves with this field.

This book is an introduction to theory in archaeology – but with a difference. Archaeological Situations avoids talking about theory as if it was something you apply but rather as something embedded in archaeological practice from the start. Rather than see theory as something worked from the outside in, this book explores theory from the inside out, which means it focuses on specific archaeological practices rather than specific theories. It starts from the kinds of situations that students find themselves in and learn about in other archaeology courses, avoiding the gap between practice and theory from the very beginning. It shows students the theoretical implications of almost everything they engage in as archaeologists, from fieldwork, recording, writing up and making and assessing an argument to exploring the very nature of archaeology and justifying its relevance. Essentially, it adopts a structure which attempts to pre-empt one of the most common complaints of students taking theory courses: how is this applicable? Aimed primarily at undergraduates, this book is the ideal way to engage students with archaeological theory.

This Handbook provides a transnational reference point for critical engagements with the legacies of, and futures for, global archaeological collections. It challenges the common misconception that museum archaeology is simply a set of procedures for managing and exhibiting assemblages. Instead, this volume advances museum archaeology as an area of reflexive research and practice addressing the critical issues of what gets prioritized by and researched in museums, by whom, how, and why. Through twenty-eight chapters, authors problematize and suggest new ways of thinking about historic, contemporary, and future relationships between archaeological fieldwork and museums, as well as the array of institutional and cultural paradigms through which archaeological enquiries are mediated. Case studies embrace not just archaeological finds, but also archival field notes, photographic media, archaeological samples, and replicas. Throughout, museum activities are put into dialogue with other aspects of archaeological practice, with the aim of situating museum work within a more holistic archaeology that does not privilege excavation or field survey above other aspects of disciplinary engagement. These concerns will be grounded in the realities of museums internationally, including Latin America, Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. In so doing, the common heritage sector refrain 'best practice' is not assumed to solely emanate from developed countries or European philosophies, but instead is considered as emerging from and accommodated within local concerns and diverse museum cultures.

From examinations of prehistoric burial to understanding post-industrial spaces and heritage practices, the writing of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari is gaining increasing importance within archaeological thought. Their concept of ‘assemblages’ allows us to explore the past in new ways, by placing an emphasis on difference rather than similarity, on fluidity rather stasis and unpredictability rather than reproduceable models. Assemblage Thought and Archaeology applies the notion of assemblage to specific archaeological case studies, ranging from early urbanism in Mesopotamia to 19th century military fortifications. It introduces the concept of assemblage within the context of the wider ‘material turn’ in the social sciences, examines its implications for studying materials and urban settlements, and explores its consequences for the practice of archaeological research and heritage management. This innovative book will be of particular interest to postgraduate students of archaeological theory and researchers looking to understand this latest trend in archaeological thought, although the case studies will also have appeal to those whose work focusses on material culture, settlement archaeology and archaeological practice.

Assembling Archaeology provides a radical rethinking of the relationships between teaching, researching, digging, and practicing as an archaeologist in the 21st century. The issues addressed here are global and applicable wherever archaeology is taught, practiced, and researched. At its heart this book addresses the undervaluation of teaching, demonstrating that this affects the fundamentals of contemporary archaeological practice and is particularly connected to the lack of diversity in disciplinary demographics. It proposes a solution which is grounded in a theoretical rethinking of archaeological teaching, training, and practice by advocating a holistic 'assemblage' approach which challenges traditional power structures and the global marketization of the higher education system. Drawing on insights from archaeology's current material turn, this book approaches the discipline as a subject of investigation and offers a new perspective founded upon the notion of the learning assemblage, which resituates teaching and learning as a central focus and contributes to broader discourses on critical pedagogy and rhizomatic learning. It ultimately argues for a robust archaeological pedagogy that is rooted in and emergent from the material realities of the profession, and will be valuable to everyone from academia to Cultural Resource Management (CRM), heritage professional to undergraduate student.