Archaeological Theory Books

New and Published Books

1. Imagining the Pagan Past

   Gods and Goddesses in Literature and History since the Dark Ages

   By Marion Gibson

   Imagining the Pagan Past explores stories of Britain’s pagan history. These tales have been characterised by gods and fairies, folklore and magic. They have had an uncomfortable relationship with the scholarly world; often being seen as historically dubious, self-indulgent romance and, worse,...

   Published January 22nd 2013 by Routledge
2. US Cultural Diplomacy and Archaeology

   Soft Power, Hard Heritage

   By Christina Luke, Morag Kersel

   Series: Routledge Studies in Archaeology

   Archaeology’s links to international relations are well known: launching and sustaining international expeditions requires the honed diplomatic skills of ambassadors. U.S. foreign policy depends on archaeologists to foster mutual understanding, mend fences, and build bridges. This book explores how...

   Published December 19th 2012 by Routledge
3. Materiality and Consumption in the Bronze Age Mediterranean

   By Louise Steel

   Series: Routledge Studies in Archaeology

   The importance of cultural contacts in the East Mediterranean has long been recognized and is the focus of ongoing international research. Fieldwork in the Aegean, Egypt, Cyprus, and the Levant continues to add to our understanding of the nature of this contact and its social and economic...

   Published December 18th 2012 by Routledge
4. A Philosophy of Material Culture

   Action, Function, and Mind

   By Beth Preston

   Series: Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy

   This book focuses on material culture as a subject of philosophical inquiry and promotes the philosophical study of material culture by articulating some of the central and difficult issues raised by this topic and providing innovative solutions to them, most notably an account of improvised action...

   Published December 13th 2012 by Routledge
5. Archaeology in the Making

   Conversations through a Discipline

   Edited by William L Rathje, Michael Shanks, Christopher Witmore

   Archaeology in the Making is a collection of bold statements about archaeology, its history, how it works, and why it is more important than ever. This book comprises conversations about archaeology among some of its notable contemporary figures. They delve deeply into the questions that have come...

   Published November 18th 2012 by Routledge
6. Homoerotic Sensibilities in Late Imperial China

   By Cuncun Wu

   Series: Routledge/Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) East Asian Series

   Homoerotic Sensibilities in Late Imperial China is the richest exploration to date of late imperial Chinese literati interest in male love. Employing primary sources such as miscellanies, poetry, fiction and 'flower guides', Wu Cuncun argues that male homoeroticism played a central role in the...

   Published November 14th 2012 by Routledge
7. Ancient Alterity in the Andes

   A Recognition of Others

   By George F. Lau

   Ancient Alterity in the Andes is the first major treatment on ancient alterity: how people in the past regarded others. At least since the 1970s, alterity has been an influential concept in different fields, from art history, psychology and philosophy, to linguistics and ethnography. Having gained...

   Published October 23rd 2012 by Routledge
8. An Archaeology of the Cosmos

   Rethinking Agency and Religion in Ancient America

   By Timothy R. Pauketat

   An Archaeology of the Cosmos seeks answers to two fundamental questions of humanity and human history. The first question concerns that which some use as a defining element of humanity: religious beliefs. Why do so many people believe in supreme beings and holy spirits? The second question concerns...

   Published October 21st 2012 by Routledge
9. Hadrian's Wall and the End of Empire

   The Roman Frontier in the 4th and 5th Centuries

   By Rob Collins

   Series: Routledge Studies in Archaeology

   There is no synthetic or comprehensive treatment of any late Roman frontier in the English language to date, despite the political and economic significance of the frontiers in the late antique period. Examining Hadrian’s Wall and the Roman frontier of northern England from the fourth century into...

   Published June 17th 2012 by Routledge
10. Past Human Migrations in East Asia

    Matching Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics

    Edited by Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, Roger Blench, Malcolm D. Ross, Ilia Peiros, Marie Lin

    Series: Routledge Studies in the Early History of Asia

    The study of the prehistory of East Asia is developing very rapidly. In uncovering the story of the flows of human migration that constituted the peopling of East Asia there exists widespread debate about the nature of evidence and the tools for correlating results from different disciplines....

    Published May 14th 2012 by Routledge