Presenting studies in Andean archaeology and iconography by leading specialists in the field, this volume tackles the question of how researchers can come to understand the intangible, intellectual worlds of ancient peoples. Archaeological Interpretations is a fascinating ontological journey through Andean cultures from the fourth millennium BC to the sixteenth century, A.D. Through evidence-based case studies, theoretical models, and methodological reflections, contributors discuss the various interpretations that can be derived from the traces of ritual activity that remain in the material record. They discuss how to accurately comprehend the social significance of artifacts beyond their practical use and how to decode the symbolism of sacred images. Addressing topics including the earliest evidence of shamanism in Ecuador, the meaning of masks among the Mochicas in Peru, the value of metal in the Recuay culture, and ceremonies of voluntary abandonment among the Incas, contributors propose original and innovative ways of interpreting the rich Andean archaeological heritage. Contributors: Luis Jaime Castillo Butters | Peter Eeckhout | Christine Hastorf | Abigail Levine | Geroge F. Lau | Frank Meddens | Charles S. Stanish | Edward Swenson | Gary Urton | Francisco Valdez

This volume provides a forum for debate between varied approaches to the past. The authors, drawn from Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia, represent many different strands of archaeology. They address the philosophical issues involved in interpretation and a desire among archaeologists to come to terms with their own subjective approaches to the material they study, a recognition of how past researchers have also imposed their own value systems on the evidence which they presented.

Today, archaeology plays an ever growing role in Qumran studies. Fifteen papers presented in 2002 at Brown University provide the necessary data to break new ground in the recent debate about the character of Qumran. Section I discusses material from old and new excavations that help assess the validity of the traditional Qumran-Essene hypothesis. Part II discusses various aspects of the main settlement such as division of space, the character of period III, the date of the cave scroll deposits and the use of food. Part III deals with the Qumran cemetery and a similar graveyard at Khirbet Qazone. Part IV places Qumran into a wider regional context, concentrating on local agriculture and ceramic production. The articles strongly call for a new awareness for archaeological detail and, in their various ways, instigate a renewed debate about how to bring texts and material culture into a meaningful dialogue.

Scholars who investigate race—a label based upon real or perceived physical differences—realize that they face a formidable task. The concept has been contested and condoned, debated and denied throughout modern history. Presented with the full understanding of the complexity of the issue, Race and Practice in Archaeological Interpretation concentrates on the archaeological analysis of race and how race is determined in the archaeological record. Most archaeologists, even those dealing with recent history, have usually avoided the subject of race, yet Charles E. Orser, Jr., contends that its study and its implications are extremely important for the science of archaeology. Drawing upon his considerable experience as an archaeologist, and using a combination of practice theory as interpreted by Pierre Bourdieu and spatial theory as presented by Henri Lefebvre, Orser argues for an explicit archaeology of race and its interpretation. The author reviews past archaeological usages of race, including a case study from early nineteenth-century Ireland, and explores the way race was used to form ideas about the Mound Builders, the Celts, and Atlantis. He concludes with a proposal that historical archaeology—cast as modern-world archaeology—should take the lead in the archaeological analysis of race because its purview is the recent past, that period during which our conceptions of race developed.

This is a much-needed survey of how relationships between indigenous peoples and the archaeological establishment have got into difficulties, and a pointer towards how things could move forward.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Remote Sensing and Geosciences for Archaeology" that was published in Geosciences

An Archaeology of Ethnicity, Race, and Consumption in New York examines the archaeological visibility of ethnicity within the confines of nineteenth-century material culture from across New York State. The author discusses the limits of archaeological interpretations of ethnicity, presents the utility of material indications of racism in the archaeological record, considers the archaeological footprint of immigrant groups, and contextualizes these discussions with the economic development of the state of New York. The author argues that the construction of canals and railroads causes drastic changes in trade networks and available goods throughout the state, and impacted the lives of immigrant populations who both built and depended on these systems. This book recounts the exploitation of immigrant groups for hard labor to complete these arterial constructions, which in turn increases reliable accessibility to trade goods, but also provides archaeologists today an increased ability to understand the treatment of those immigrant groups by American society.

In Correlative Archaeology, Fumi Arakawa applies correlative thinking practices, which are derived from an East Asian view of the world that stresses connectivity, to archaeological interpretations. Arakawa, a Japanese scholar who was trained in Western archaeology, argues that a correlative paradigm can help archaeologists, as well as scholars and researchers from other disciplines, consider competing paradigms and integrate Native American voices and narratives into interpretations of prehistoric art and landscapes.

In studying the past, archaeologists have focused on the material remains of our ancestors. Prehistorians generally have only artifacts to study and rely on the diverse material record for their understanding of past societies and their behavior. Those involved in studying historically documented cultures not only have extensive material remains but also contemporary texts, images, and a range of investigative technologies to enable them to build a broader and more reflexive picture of how past societies, communities, and individuals operated and behaved. Increasingly, historical archaeology refers not to a particular period, place, or a method, but rather an approach that interrogates the tensions between artifacts and texts irrespective of context. In short, historical archaeology provides direct evidence for how humans have shaped the world we live in today. Historical archaeology is a branch of global archaeology that has grown in the last 40 years from its North American base into an increasingly global community of archaeologists each studying their area of the world in a historical context. Where historical archaeology started as part of the study of the post-Columbian societies of the United States and Canada, it has now expanded to interface with the post-medieval archaeologies of Europe and the diverse post-imperial experiences of Africa, Latin America, and Australasia. The 36 essays in the International Handbook of Historical Archaeology have been specially commissioned from the leading researchers in their fields, creating a wide-ranging digest of the increasingly global field of historical archaeology. The volume is divided into two sections, the first reviewing the key themes, issues, and approaches of historical archaeology today, and the second containing a series of case studies charting the development and current state of historical archaeological practice around the world. This key reference work captures the energy and diversity of this global discipline today.