"This volume is the result of collaboration between SPMA and the Association des archeologues du Quebec (AAQ); its guest editor is William Moss, Chief Archaeologist for the City of Quebec. The publication has arisen from the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the city's founding by Samuel de Champlain in 1608, an occasion which gave momentum to a number of important archaeological projects in the city and surrounding region, and provided an excellent opportunity to present their results. It contains sixteen papers, all translated from French, the language of Quebec City. They include accounts of exciting discoveries relating to the port, the great chateau on the crag above it, the defences, and the newly discovered remains of the short-lived colony of the 1540s. The papers underline Quebec's status as one of the leading centres of urban research in North America. The volume provides the only modern overview of archaeological work in the city in the English language."

An idea of the philosophy of archaeology can best be gained by showing what it is, what the issues are, who is working in the field, and how they proceed. Reading Lester Embree's Metaarchaeology provides the best possible introduction to the field, since in it several leading archaeologists show how accessible and interesting the current archeological literature is, and currently active philosophers of archaeology reveal something of the current state of discussion on the subject. Bibliographies have also been developed of the philosophy of archaeology as well as of selected parts of the component that can be called metaarchaeology. Finally, an historical introduction has been included to show the variety of metascientific as well as orientational standpoints that philosophers of archaeology have had recourse to for over two decades, followed by speculation about the future of the discipline within the philosophy of science.

Archaeology is in crisis. Spatial turns, material turns and the ontological turn have directed the discipline away from its hard-won battle to find humanity in the past. Meanwhile, popularised science, camouflaged as archaeology, produces shock headlines built on ancient DNA that reduce humanity’s most intriguing historical problems to two-dimensional caricatures. Today archaeology finds itself less able than ever to proclaim its relevance to the modern world. This volume foregrounds the relevance of the scholarship of John Barrett to this crisis. Twenty-four writers representing three generations of archaeologists scrutinise the current turmoil in the discipline and highlight the resolutions that may be found through Barrett’s analytical framework. Topics include archaeology and the senses, the continuing problem of the archaeological record, practice, discourse, and agency, reorienting archaeological field practice, the question of different expressions of human diversity, and material ecologies. Understanding archaeology as both a universal and highly specific discipline, case-studies range from the Aegean to Orkney, and encompass Anatolia, Korea, Romania, United Kingdom and the very nature of the Universe itself. This critical examination of John Barrett’s contribution to archaeology is simultaneously a response to his urgent call to arms to reorient archaeology in the service of humanity.

Heritage, memory, community archaeology and the politics of the past form the main strands running through the papers in this volume.The authors tackle these subjects from a range of different philosophical perspectives, with many drawing on the experience of recent community, commercial and other projects. Throughout, there is a strong emphasis on both the philosophy of engagement and with its enactment in specific contexts; the essays deal with an interest in the meaning, value and contested nature of the recent past and in the theory and practice of archaeological engagements with that past.

A personal history of Peter Wade-Martins archaeological endeavour in Norfolk set within a national context. It covers the writer’s early experiences as a volunteer, the rise of field archaeology as a profession and efforts to conserve archaeological heritage.