Processual Archaeology - by Amber Johnson (Hardcover)

About the Book

Processual archaeologists seek to explain variability in the static archaeological record we observe in the present as a necessary first step toward learning how to learn about the operation of cultural dynamics in the past. The approach is a diverse and productive one that focuses on developing learning strategies. Researchers pursuing processual archaeology have already discovered a great deal about the archaeological record and about past dynamics, and there is a huge potential for building on the foundation laid thus far.

The contributors to this volume provide clearly written research articles that are easily accessible to upper-level undergraduates and professional archaeologists. Although the papers do not focus on a single region, time period, or domain of observation (e.g. settlement patterns or lithics or site structure), they are integrated by shared goals for archaeology. This book clearly demonstrates that processual archaeology, far from having been replaced by post-processual archaeology, is becoming more and more powerful as our analytic sophistication and knowledge of the archaeological record grow.

Book Synopsis

Processual archaeologists seek to explain variability in the static archaeological record we observe in the present as a necessary first step toward learning how to learn about the operation of cultural dynamics in the past. The approach is a diverse and productive one that focuses on developing learning strategies. Researchers pursuing processual archaeology have already discovered a great deal about the archaeological record and about past dynamics, and there is a huge potential for building on the foundation laid thus far.

The contributors to this volume provide clearly written research articles that are easily accessible to upper-level undergraduates and professional archaeologists. Although the papers do not focus on a single region, time period, or domain of observation (e.g. settlement patterns or lithics or site structure), they are integrated by shared goals for archaeology. This book clearly demonstrates that processual archaeology, far from having been replaced by post-processual archaeology, is becoming more and more powerful as our analytic sophistication and knowledge of the archaeological record grow.

Review Quotes

?Processual archaeology is certainly not dead, and this book reminds us of some of the aspects of its many ongoing contributions. Where would archeology be--not only in America, but truly around the world--without the theoretical contributions and practical applications of Binford, his students, and colleagues, as is clearly shown in this stimulating, paradigmatic perspective on how to tease information on patterns of human behavior out of the silent stones, bones, and shreds of the remote past.?-Journal of Anthropological Research

"Processual archaeology is certainly not dead, and this book reminds us of some of the aspects of its many ongoing contributions. Where would archeology be--not only in America, but truly around the world--without the theoretical contributions and practical applications of Binford, his students, and colleagues, as is clearly shown in this stimulating, paradigmatic perspective on how to tease information on patterns of human behavior out of the silent stones, bones, and shreds of the remote past."-Journal of Anthropological Research

About the Author

AMBER L. JOHNSON received her Ph.D. in anthropology from Southern Methodist University in 1997 and is currently an assistant professor of anthropology at Truman State University. Her research interests are in learning to explain variability in the pace and pattern of long term culture change processes through comparison of archaeological sequences on a global scale.