Ebook: Invitation to Archaeology

"Take a glass coffeepot, a set of rosary beads, a wedding ring, a fishing pole complete with reel, a jewelry box, a pair of skis, an eight ball from a pool table, a crystal chandelier, a magnifying glass, a harmonica, and a vacuum tube and break them to pieces with a hammer. Bury them for three centuries, and dig them up and present them to a literate citizen from Peking. Could he tell you the function of the objects which these fragments represent? A slightly farfetched situation, we might say, but in many ways this is exactly the problem facing the archaeologist who is attempting to determine the function of the various artifacts in his assemblage."

In this original introduction to the subject, James Deetz explores the principles, methods, and problems of the present-day archaeologist, whose responsibility is to uncover, interpret, and understand man's past. All aspects of archaeology from the nuts and bolts of excavation to the exacting science of radiocarbon dating, form analysis, and space-time slope patterns are eloquently discussed in this invaluable review of a profession which is only just beginning to unlock the doors of our past.