Understanding the Archaeological Record

This book explores the understandings of the archaeological record in both historical and contemporary perspective, while also serving as a guide to reassessing current views.

Gavin Lucas (Author)

9780521279697, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 6 February 2012

322 pages, 21 b/w illus. 6 tables
22.9 x 15.3 x 1.7 cm, 0.43 kg

'Lucas's book brings a new complexity to the concept of the archaeological record.' R. Carl DeMuth, Canadian Journal of Archaeology

This book explores the diverse understandings of the archaeological record in both historical and contemporary perspective, while also serving as a guide to reassessing current views. Gavin Lucas argues that archaeological theory has become both too fragmented and disconnected from the particular nature of archaeological evidence. The book examines three ways of understanding the archaeological record - as historical sources, through formation theory and as material culture - then reveals ways to connect these three domains through a reconsideration of archaeological entities and archaeological practice. Ultimately, Lucas calls for a rethinking of the nature of the archaeological record and the kind of history and narratives written from it.

1. The trouble with theory
2. The total record
3. Formation theory
4. Materialized culture
5. Archaeological entities
6. Archaeological interventions
7. A 'new' social archaeology?

Subject Areas: Archaeological theory [HDA], Archaeology [HD]