Designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of archaeologists and historians, Documentary Archaeology in the New World outlines a fresh approach to the archaeological study of the historic cultures of North America that places history alongside anthropology, cultural geography, and a whole range of cognate disciplines. The authors' common belief is that historical archaeologists must develop their own frameworks for interpretation through exhaustive documentary research rather than simply borrow models from colleagues working in the prehistoric past. Specific topics examined include urban...

The archaeology of classical Greece developed in the shadow of Greek historical scholarship. Many modern developments in archaeology have been neglected, and classical archaeology has become something of a backwater. The contributors to this book review the history of the field and aim to demonstrate that modern archaeological approaches can contribute to a richer understanding of Greek society. They insist that this complex, literate and highly unusual society poses important questions for archaeologists of other regions.

This book uses comparative island archaeology to reinterpret a vital phase in early Aegean history. Cyprian Broodbank presents the first modern analysis of Cycladic culture, tracing the development of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age societies in these islands from first colonisation through to incorporation, three millennia later, in the world system of the Minoan palaces and the wider Near East. The archaeology of this region is rich and well documented, and allows Dr Broodbank to reformulate early Cycladic history and to deploy detailed examples that challenge established approaches to...

Factionalism is an important force of social transformation, and this volume examines how factional competition in the kinship and political structures in ancient New World societies led to the development of chiefdoms, states and empires. The case studies, from a range of New World societies, represent all levels of non-egalitarian societies and a wide variety of ecological settings in the New World. They document the effects of factionalism on the structure of particular polities: for example, how it might have led to the growth of social inequality, or to changing patterns of chiefly...

Bad Year Economics explores the role of risk and uncertainty in human economics within an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural framework. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, and ancient and modern history, the contributors range widely in time and space across hunting, farming and pastoralism, across ancient states, empires, and modern nation states. The aim, however, is a common one: to analyse in each case the structure of variability - particularly with regard to food supply - and review the range of responses offered by individual human communities. These responses commonly exploit...

An international team of experts examines the historical archaeology of contact and its aftermath by considering the consequences of colonialism in settler societies from the sixteenth century to the present. This work's unique global vision constitutes an innovative exploration of issues which are assuming major social and political importance in the postcolonial world.

An international team of experts examines the historical archaeology of contact and its aftermath by considering the consequences of colonialism in settler societies from the sixteenth century to the present. This work's unique global vision constitutes an innovative exploration of issues which are assuming major social and political importance in the postcolonial world.