Archaeological Theory Today, Paperback by Hodder, Ian (EDT), Like New Used, F...

Archaeological Theory Today, Paperback by Hodder, Ian (EDT), ISBN 0745653073, ISBN-13 9780745653075, Like New Used, Free shipping in the USThis book will function mainly as a textbook for advanced students in archeology, with some use in anthropology. It is a survey of current theoretical perspectives in the field of academic archeology; as the editors point out, critical theory has led to a focus on theories and a proliferation of terminology that can be confusing to students, so a single textbook survey of theory can be helpful. This one covers processes of investigation: Darwinian cultural evolution, human behavioral ecology, behavioral ecology, and complex systems. It addresses theoretical processes: agency, place/landscape, materiality, post-colonial archeology, symmetrical archeology, socio-political movements in the heritage field. And it devotes a chapter to indigenous collaborations and perspectives, the only one written by a non-academic (the curator of archeology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science). Each chapter is written to be a survey for student readers in archeology, by an author sympathetic and experienced in the perspective. The post-colonial and indigenous chapters work differently, explaining a landscape of contemporary theory in terms of its history and context. Some chapters are brief summaries of recent work without any context; others are explanations of a contemporary theory or perspective and where it came from, with little information about specific recent work. Distributed by Wiley. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR ()