Book cover of Tracing Archaeology's Past: The Historiography of Archaeology

Book description



In 17 critical essays, the first book to address the historiography of archaeology evaluates how and why the history of archaeology is written.

The emphasis in the first section is on how archaeologists use historical knowledge of their discipline. For example, it can help them to understand the origin of…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Tracing Archaeology's Past as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I was at the landmark conference in 1987 that legitimated critical analyses of archaeological work and the socio-cultural parameters in which it takes place. We were all surprised at the numbers, range of interests, range of professional standing of the participants, and enthusiasm––all reflected in the papers in this book. Dipping into it startles with the diversity of persons and places and times affecting the history of archaeology. Feminist concerns were loud and clear and critiqued from a supportive standpoint. Pair this with Trigger's magisterial history to see how he distilled a multitude of disparate activities oriented to the past,…

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December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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