The Second Edition of this recent entry into the introductory archaeology market conveys the excitement of archaeological discovery while it explains how archaeologists think as they scientifically find, analyze, and interpret evidence.

The Second Edition of this recent entry into the introductory archaeology market conveys the excitement of archaeological discovery while it explains how archaeologists think as they scientifically find, analyze, and interpret evidence.  Brief enough to accompany prehistory or physical anthropology texts, the text is also comprehensive enough to stand alone.

Archaeology: The Science of the Human Past, 2/e continues to provide a comprehensive overview of archaeological history, theory, and method comprehensively at a reasonable level of detail and in language accessible to students. Archaeological theory and its various approaches are presented in a balanced manner, along with the interpretation of gender, ethnicity, and individuality in the archaeological record. Each chapter begins with a compelling story of a real archaeological adventure that expresses the main theme of the chapter. A related activity appears at the end of the chapter and invites critical analysis or application.

“Highlight” features in every chapter provide interesting details on sites ranging widely in time and geography. “Highlights” include “The Archaeology of Enslaved Africans in the New World,” “Easter Island's Ecological Disaster,” “Ethnoarchaeology Among the Aka of Central Africa,” “The Roman Mummies of Tell El-Hibeh,” and “Dating the Shroud of Turin.” “Highlights” conclude with critical thinking questions that relate chapter content to the story.   Examples of historical archaeology are integrated throughout and cultural resource management is emphasized throughout the text.

The Second Edition features a new annotated “Suggested Readings” section at the end of each chapter.  Additional historical archaeological examples that further emphasizes this important subfield of archaeology to students are also included, as are updated discussions of postprocessual archaeology, remote sensing, and geophysical survey.