Author: Michael J. O'Brien
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 030647168X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 253
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Book Description
It is difficult for today's students of archaeology to imagine an era when chronometric dating methods were unavailable. However, even a casual perusal of the large body of literature that arose during the first half of the twentieth century reveals a battery of clever methods used to determine the relative ages of archaeological phenomena, often with considerable precision. Stratigraphic excavation is perhaps the best known of the various relative-dating methods used by prehistorians. Although there are several techniques of using artifacts from superposed strata to measure time, these are rarely if ever differentiated. Rather, common practice is to categorize them under the heading `stratigraphic excavation'. This text distinguishes among the several techniques and argues that stratigraphic excavation tends to result in discontinuous measures of time - a point little appreciated by modern archaeologists. Although not as well known as stratigraphic excavation, two other methods of relative dating have figured important in Americanist archaeology: seriation and the use of index fossils. The latter (like stratigraphic excavation) measures time discontinuously, while the former - in various guises - measures time continuously. Perhaps no other method used in archaeology is as misunderstood as seriation, and the authors provide detailed descriptions and examples of each of its three different techniques. Each method and technique of relative dating is placed in historical perspective, with particular focus on developments in North America, an approach that allows a more complete understanding of the methods described, both in terms of analytical technique and disciplinary history. This text will appeal to all archaeologists, from graduate students to seasoned professionals, who want to learn more about the backbone of archaeological dating.
Author: Colin Renfrew
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134370415
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 317
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Book Description
An invaluable resource, providing an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the key terms used in this discipline today.
Author: Israël César Lerman
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303092694X
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 287
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Book Description
This monograph offers an original broad and very diverse exploration of the seriation domain in data analysis, together with building a specific relation to clustering. Relative to a data table crossing a set of objects and a set of descriptive attributes, the search for orders which correspond respectively to these two sets is formalized mathematically and statistically. State-of-the-art methods are created and compared with classical methods and a thorough understanding of the mutual relationships between these methods is clearly expressed. The authors distinguish two families of methods: Geometric representation methods Algorithmic and Combinatorial methods Original and accurate methods are provided in the framework for both families. Their basis and comparison is made on both theoretical and experimental levels. The experimental analysis is very varied and very comprehensive. Seriation in Combinatorial and Statistical Data Analysis has a unique character in the literature falling within the fields of Data Analysis, Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery. It will be a valuable resource for students and researchers in the latter fields.
Author: Neil Asher Silberman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199735786
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 2130
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Book Description
'The Oxford Companion to Archaeology' is an up-to-date reference work on virtually every aspect of this fascinating field. Entries range from the broad overviews, to treatments of particular themes, to discussions of peoples, and societies.
Author: Donald L. Hardesty
Publisher: EOLSS Publications
ISBN: 1848260024
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 518
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Book Description
Archaeology is a component of Encyclopedia of Social Sciences and Humanities in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. Archaeology is a road for traveling into the past that is independent of and complementary to documents and memory. The archaeological record provides historical perspectives on variability and change in human life support systems with the potential for use in planning for future sustainable development. The Theme is organized into four different topics which represent the main scientific areas of the theme: - Foundations of Archaeology; - The Archaeology of Life Support Systems; - World Cultural Heritage; - Preserving Archaeological Sites and Monuments which are then expanded into multiple subtopics, each as a chapter. The first topic deals with historical, methodological, and theoretical foundations of archaeology. The second topic explores the archaeological record of human life support systems and includes chapters on foraging, food production such as farming and nomadic lifestyles, civilizations, water-management systems, and sustainability. World cultural heritage is the third topic. Finally, the fourth topic covers the preservation of cultural memorials such as archaeological sites, landscapes, and monuments. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers, NGOs and GOs.
Author: Hannah Cobb
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1003813690
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 661
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Book Description
This fully updated sixth edition of a classic classroom text is essential reading for core courses in archaeology. Archaeology: An Introduction explains how the subject emerged from an amateur pursuit in the eighteenth century into a serious discipline and explores changing trends in interpretation in recent decades. The authors convey the excitement of archaeology while helping readers to evaluate new discoveries by explaining the methods and theories that lie behind them. In addition to drawing upon examples and case studies from many regions of the world and periods of the past, the book incorporates the authors’ own fieldwork, research and teaching. It continues to include key reference and further reading sections to help new readers find their way through the ever-expanding range of archaeological publications and online sources as well as colour illustrations and boxed topic sections to increase comprehension. Serving as an accessible and lucid textbook, and engaging students with contemporary issues, this book is designed to support students studying Archaeology at an introductory level. New to the sixth edition: Inclusion of the latest survey and imaging techniques, such as the use of drones and eXtended reality. Updated material on developments in dating, DNA analysis, isotopes and population movement, including consideration of the ethical considerations of these techniques. Coverage of new developments in archaeological theory, such as the material turn/ontological turn, and work on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion. A whole new chapter covering archaeology in the present, including new sections on heritage and public archaeology, and an updated consideration of archaeology’s relationship with the climate crisis. A revised glossary with over 200 new additions or updates.
Author: F. M. Gradstein
Publisher: Dordrecht ; Boston : D. Reidel Publishing Company ; Paris : Unesco ; Hingham, MA : Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada by Kluwer Academic Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Stratigraphic correlation
Languages : en
Pages : 620
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Book Description
Author: Caitlin E. Buck
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1447102312
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
The first book to group together and analyze all the chronology construction methods used in different disciplines, this book will appeal to a wide range of researchers, scientists and graduate students using chronologies in their work; from applied statisticians to archaeologists, geologists and paleontologists, to those working in bioinformatics and chronometry. It is truly interdisciplinary and designed to enable cross fertilization of techniques.
Author: Kevin Greene
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812218282
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 356
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Book Description
A substantially revised and expanded edition of one of the most widely-used and respected general introductions to the field of archaeology.
Author: Mark Q. Sutton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000351211
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 432
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Book Description
Archaeology: The Science of the Human Past provides students with a thorough understanding of what archaeology is and how it operates and familiarizes them with fundamental archaeological concepts and methods. This volume introduces the basic components of archaeology, including sites, artifacts, ecofacts, remote sensing, and excavation. It discusses how archaeologists obtain and classify information and how they analyze this information to formulate and test models of what happened in the past. Cultural resource management and the laws and regulations that deal with archaeology around the world are described. Archaeology is placed in the context of contemporary issues, from environmental problems to issues affecting Indigenous populations. The sixth edition has been updated and simplified to create a more streamlined volume to meet the needs of the students and teachers for whom it is designed, reflecting the latest developments in archaeological techniques and approaches. Allowing students to understand the theoretical and scientific aspects of archaeology and how various archaeological perspectives and techniques help us understand how and what we know about the past, Archaeology: The Science of the Human Past is an ideal introduction to archaeology.
