WEMSK21:Archaeology


WEMSK21
 

                           Archaeology

This is the most difficcult of the WEMSKs to write. Archaeology is
such a huge and popular subject, and it is often difficult to know
whether to label a work as `display archaeology', semi-popular or
haute vulgarisation. Our bookstores have several magazines in
archaeology on display, such as Discovering Archaeology (CTI
Publishing) and Archaeology (The Archaeological Institute of
America).  In addition, other journals such as Scientific American
and National Geographic contain often quite scholarly
contributions. For Scientific American, these are often gathered
and put out as books, e.g. Old World Archaeology: Foundations of
Civilization, Readings from Scientific American (San Francisco: W.
H. Freeman, 1972), and some are put out separately as reprints.
National Geographic, which often contains important archaeological
articles, such as Cameron's report on making a squeeze of Bisitun,
is now available on CD-ROM, including their marvelous maps. Many of
the series will contain a book on archaeology, such as Early Man.
LIFE Nature Library (NY: Time-Life Books, 1970).  Reading or paging
through any of these is worthwhile. There are literally thousands
of organizations devoted to local archaeology, for example Upplands
Fornminnesfoerening, of which I have the honor of being a life
member, and which published the scholarly efforts of such worthies
as Otto von Friesen.  I am skipping all of these in the following,
while trying to hold the report down to manageable size.

1. Introduction:

Peter Woodhead, Keyguide to Information Sources in Archaeology
(London: Mansell, 1985).  The best introductory bibliography and
guide. Unfortunately gives initials for first names. A nice touch
for me is the listing of Dewey Decimal numbers (which my library
uses, I am sorry to say) for archeology (pp. 26 ff.), a feature
available more fully on Ulrich's (Note that archaeological journals
and such will be under 913):

930.1 Archaeology
930.102 Miscellany
930.1028 Techniques, procedures, apparatus, equipment, materials
930.102804 Underwater archaeology
930.10282 Discovery of remains
930.10283 Excavation of remains
930.10285 Interpretation of remains (including data techniques, use
of data processing.

2. Bibliographies:

a. Robert F. Heizer, Archaeology: A Bibliographical Guide to the
Basic Literature, ed. Thomas R. Hester and Carol Graves (NY:
Garland, 1980). Posthumous collection of his notes. Good, but no
subject index. Almost 5,000 items.

b. COWA Surveys and Bibliographies, ed.-in-chief D. F. Brown
(Cambridge, MA: Council for Old World Archaeology, 1957-71).

c. Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory, including
Irregular Serials and Annuals, 5 vols. (New Providence, NJ: R. R.
Bowker).  Lists about 1200 serials under `Archaeology'. Includes
`Serials Available on CD-ROM', `Serials Available Online', and a
very useful `Cessations'. It itself is available online and on CD-
ROM.

d. Gudrun Gerlach and Rolf Hachmann, Verzeichnis vor- und
fruehgeschichtlicher Bibliographien. Beiheft zum 50. Bericht der
Roemisch-Germanischeen Kommission, 1969 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1971.
Best of the retrospective bibliographies of bibliographies; 3103
items.

3. Keeping up:

a. Recently Published Articles (Washington: American Historical
Association, 1976-). Over 3000 periodicals scanned. Ceased.

b. Archaeologische Bibliographie. Beilage zum Jahrbuch des
Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1913-).
Scans oveer 1,000 periodicals. Now replaced by DYABOLA, online and
on CD-ROM, both of which are retrospective.

c. G. K. Hall, Bibliographic Guide to Anthropology and Archaeology
(Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 1989-).  Based on the works
catalogued each year by the Tozzer Library at Harvard.  A fairly
painless way to keep up. The following list is based on my notebook
of journal titles which I visit when I go to the library:

Archeologie medievale, Medieval Archaeology, British Archaeological
Abstracts, Abstracts in German Anthropology (Goettingen: Herodot.
1980-), International Medieval Bibliography (online), Nordic
Archaeological Abstracts, Swedish Archaeological Abstracts,
Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts (London: International
Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 1966-).
Abstracts ca. 400 periodicals, Zeitschrift fuer Archaeologie des
Mittelalters, Advances in World Archaeology (1982-), Advances in
Archaeological Method and Theory, Annual Review of Anthropology,
L'Annee philologique, also online and on CD-ROM; see `Antiquites'.
Make a similar list and tick them off as you look at them.

4. History. One needs some idea of the history of a field.

a. Glyn Daniel, A Hundred and Fifty Years of Archaeology, 2d ed.
(London: Duckworth, 1975). The best. Detailed bibliography;
timeline.

b. Bruce G. Trigger, A History of Archaeological Thought
(Cambridge: CUP, 1989).

4. Introductions:

a. If you know nothing about archaeology, you might like a book
like Rhoda A. Hendricks, Archaeology Made Simple. Made Simple Books
(Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964). It is simple and makes a good
read over coffee.

b. A step up from this is: Kathleen M. Kenyon, Beginning in
Archaeology. Praeger Paperbacks PPS-41 (NY: Praeger, 1961). This is
actually a sort of 3rd ed. Kathleen Kenyon was a well-known
authority in the field, and this reads well. It is meant for the
beginning student and is quite practical in its orientation.

c. Somewhat more up to date: Kevin Greene, Archaeology, an
Introduction, rev. ed. (Philadelphia: UPenn, 1995).  Good
references; each chapter has a `guide to further reading'; he has
a web site which you can reach through Archeology Magazine (see 7b,
below).

d. Hans Juergen Eggers, Einfuehrung in die Vorgeschichte (Munich:
Piper, 1959).  Good and professional.

5. Dictionaries and thesauruses; there are many dictionaries for
archaeology, each offering you sort of a thesaurus:

a. The Macmillan Dictionary of Archaeology, ed. Ruth Whitehouse
(London: Macmillan, 1983). The fullest dicitonary of archaeology.

b. Dictionnaire d'archeologie, by George Ville (Paris: Larousse,
1968). Short paperback.

c. Sara Champion, Dictionary of Terms and Techniques in Archaeology
(NY: Everest House, 1980). My favorite. Some bibliography.

d. The Penguin Dictionary of Archaeology, ed. Warwick Bray and
David Trump, 2d ed. (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1982). Over 1600
entries.

e. Molly R. Mignon, Dictionary of Concepts in Archaeology.
Reference Sources for the Social Sciences and Humanities, No. 13
(Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1993). A good concept, a good
beginning, not very comprehensive.

f. A Dictionary of Archaeology, ed. Ian Shaw and Robert Jameson
(Oxford: Blackwell, 1999). Good for what it treats.  For example,
I looked up `cognitive archaeology', which had a thorough treatment
and good bib, but `GIS' and `Europe, medieval and post-medieval'
both seemed disappoiting.  Short section on `experimental
archaeology'.

6. Foreign language dictionaries. There are really no good ones;
look at the dictionaries of scientific terminology:

a. Dictionnaire polyglotte des termes d'art et d'archeologie, ed.
L. Reau (Osnabrueck: Zeller, 1977). New ed., but old fashioned.
Large.

b. Elsevier's Dictionary of Archaeological Materials and
Archaeometry. In English with translations of terms in German,
Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese, by Z. Goffer (Amsterdam:
Elsevier, 1996).

c. English-German Dictionary, Art History - Archaeology, Mary L.
Apelt (Berlin: E. Schmidt, 1987).

7. Online. Not a Tennessee Bob list; just a few items to help you
along.

a. FRANCIS, the online form of the Bulletin Signaletique (through
Questel/Telesystemes, CNRS (subfile 530). About 100,000
archaeological references back to 1972; grows at ca. 20,000 per
year.

b. DYABOLA, available on CD-ROM and online.

c. Archaeology Magazine, brought to you by the Archaeological
Institute of America: http://www.he.net/~archaeol/encyclo.html. Many
links to archaeological web sites.

8. Series:

Ancient Peoples and Places (London: Thames and Hudson, 1956-). Over
100 vols. published.

Archaeological Guides (London: Faber and Faber, 1967-).  Good for
doing `Tourist Archaeology'; see below.

9. Atlases:

a. David and Ruth Whitehouse, Archaeological Atlas of the World
[145] `generally regarded as the best'. 103 maps.

b. The Atlas of World Archaeology, ed. Paul G. Bahn (NY: Checkmark
Books, 2000).

c. Mick Aston and Tim Taylor, The Atlas of Archaeology (NY: DK
Publishing, 1998).  Thin, but good.

d. Deutscher Kulturatlas, ed. Gerhard Luedtke and Lutz Mackensen,
5 vols. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1928-38). Only the first two vols.
interest us. Especially good for Germany, but also for the whole
Middle Ages, e.g. for village culture.

10. Underwater Archaeology has become a field in itself:

a. Keith Muckelroy, Maritime Archaeology. New Studies in
Archaeology (Cambridge: CUP, 1978). Comprehensive. Good
bibliography.

b. George F. Bass, ed., A History of Seafaring Based on Underwater
Archaeology (NY: Walker & Co., 1972). A dozen signed articles,
surveying the field + an intro by Bass, one of the pioneers.

c. Encylopedia of Underwater and Maritime Archaeology, ed. James P.
Delgado (New Haven: Yale UP, 1998) = British Museum Encylopedia of
Underwater and Maritime Archaeology.

d. Underwater archaeology certainly has the most extensive
commented bibliography: An Indexed Bibliography of Underwater
Archaeology, ed. John Sherwood Illsley. The International Maritime
Archaeology Series 3 (Shropshire: Anthony Nelson, 1996).

11. Collections:

Contemporary Archaeology in Theory, ed. Robert Preucel and Ian
Hodder (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996).

12. Encyclopedias:

a. Otto Schrader, Reallexikon der Indogermanischen Altertumskunde,
2d ed, ed. Alfons Nehring, 2 vols. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1917-1929).
If you are interested in linguistic paleontology, this one is for
you.

b. Charles Victor Daremberg and Edmond Saglio, Dictionnaire des
antiquites grecques et romaines, 5 vols. (Paris: Hachette, 1877-
1919). Reprinted 1969). A great resource.

c. Max Ebert, ed., Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte, 15 vols. (Berlin:
de Gruyter, 1924-32).  A real goldmine.

d. Walther Otto, ed., Handbuch der Archaeologie, Handbuch der
Altertumswissenschaft, 6. Abt., 4 vols. (Munich: Beck, 1939-54).
New ed. in progress; cf. Allgemeine Grundlagen der Archaeologie,
ed. Ulrich Hausmann (Munich: Beck, 1969).

e. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Archaeology, ed. Andrew Sherratt
(Cambridge: CUP, 1980). Strange format, but good.

13. Use of the Computer:

Internet Archaeology. York (1996-). http://intarch.ac.uk/. Contains
"the results of archaeological research, including excavation
reports (text, photographs, data, drawings, reconstruction
diagrams, interpretations), analyses of large data sets along with
the data itself, visualisations, programs used to analyse data, and
applications of information technology." "... managed by a
consortium composed of the British Academy, the Council for British
Archaeology and the Universities of York, Durham, Glasgow, Oxford
and Southampton."

14. Readers:

The World of the Past, ed. Jacquetta Hawkes, 2 vols. (NY: Knopf,
1963. A great set of readings, "in the eloquent words of the
original discoverers, observers and interpreters." Good to browse
through. Vol. 2, Section III is on our period.

Archaeology, ed. Samuel Rapport and Helen Wright. New York
University Library of Science (NY: Washington Square Press, 1963).
Short paperback. A good anthology.

The Archaeologist at Work, a Sourcebook in Archaeological Method
and Interpretation, ed. Robert F. Heizer (NY: Harper, 1959).

Hands on the Past: Pioneer Archaeologists Tell Their Own Story, ed.
C. W. Ceram (NY: Knopf, 1966). Interesting set of readings.

15. Haute vulgarisation;

1. The History of Mankind series, sponsored by UNESCO:

a. Prehistory and the Beginnings of Civilization, by Jacquetta
Hawkes and Sir Leonard Woolley (NY: Harper & Row, 1963). Good
bibliographies for each section.

b. The Great Medieval Civilizations, ed. Gaston Wiet, Vadime
Elisseefe, Philippe Wolff and Jean Naudou (NY: Harper & Row, 1975).
Kind of jumbled, but good on material culture and science.

2. The "Stones Speak" series by Paul MacKendrick: The Mute Stones
Speak, The Greek Stones Speak, The Iberian Stones Speak, The Dacian
Stones Speak, The North African Stones Speak, plus his Roman France
and Romans on the Rhine: Archaeology in Germany, all available from
NY: Funk and Wagnalls.

3. C. W. Ceram, Gods, Graves, and Scholars, transl. E. B. Garside
and Sophie Wilkins, 2d ed. (NY: Knopf, 1967). A famous book.

4. Geoffrey Bibby, The Testimony of the Spade (NY: Knopf, 1956).

16. Scientific advances:

a. Science in Archaeology, ed. Don Brothwell and Eric Higgs, rev.
and enlarged (NY: Praeger, 1970).  A splendid gathering of
contributions, now woefully outdated, but a landmark.

b. Archaeology and the Information Age. A Global Perspective, ed.
Paul Reilly and Sebastian Rahtz (London: Routledge, 1992). A large
collection of articles.  Sebastian used to be the genial host of
ARCH-L.

c. Science and Technology in Historic Preservation, ed. Ray A.
Williamson and Paul R. Nickens. Advances in Archaeological and
Museum Science (NY: Kluwer, 1999). Excellent collection of articles
on many aspects of science in archaeology.  Bibliographies after
each article.

d. Advances in Computer Archaeology (Tempe: Arizona State U, Dept.
of Anthropology, 1983-). A newsletter.

e. Christopher Taylor, Fieldwork in Medieval Archaeology (London:
Batsford, 1974).