Customer Reviews

Archaeology: A Brief Introduction

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4 star:		(1)
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Have you ever wondered how pieces of long lost civilizations find a home in museums? Perhaps a dashing hero discovered them while escaping enemies? No. Real archaeologists spend countless hours researching information on a particular subject and only then does on-site excavation begin.

This book is for those that want to know more. Brain Fagan takes a subject that many are interested in and actually puts it into perspective. Most people don't understand the numerous factors that are involoved in archaeology. The book provides a wonderful introduction to those willing to get their feet wet.

I highly recommend this book to the armchair archaeologists that want to know more about the craft and science. This is a great pre-requisite to The Oxford Companion to Archaeology (a book edited by Fagan as well).

Brian Fagan is a lively writer with a clear enthusiasm for his profession., an enthusiasm that is in fact quite contagious. The scientific progression of archaeology has historically taken a somewhat circuitous course, with different theories and methods competing for the limelight. With this is mind, one can understand what a difficult task it would be to sum up this history, methodology and theory in one short book. Overall, Mr. Fagan has done an admirable job, and peppers the book with illustrative examples form prehistory. Nonetheless, there are some sections (particularly on archaeological theory) where I found myself reading and re-reading sentences trying to dissect exactly what he was trying to get at. I came away with a solid, though not complete, understanding of archaeologic fundamentals and the reality of archaeology -- and for a more complete picture, I will likely move on to longer, and more advanced, books.

I am an undergraduate biology student and have little experience in archaeology. This book was recommended to me by an archeaology/earth sciences professor as a supplement to a class I am taking this summer. The class is an archaeological field lab and aside from some basics taught in a physical anthropology class, I have had no real experience in archaeology. I've read most of the book in my spare time and have found it has really increased my scope of understanding. We had an orientation for the class about a week ago and our professor introduced us to what kind of work we would be doing with what kind of artifacts and at no time was I lost in technical jargon (there was lots) but would have been had I not read this book. The book itself is extremely well written and is easily understandable for the layperson, such as myself. I will not be re-selling this book. Would also like to mention that the book was sent to me in the same condition as was listed in an adequate amount of time and that the seller was a good one.

Did as it should, changed the way I think, for the better, and now I have a richer depth of understanding of the subject. Very readable, for what could be a dry subject. Great examples embedded throughout the text, so you can learn theory and famous specific examples together. He points you in the right direction to learn more if needed, and gives great references & "links" in appendices at the end. I am not one to judge the thoroughness of the review, it has been my intro, but I ran it by a reliable buddy with an anthropology degree, and he clearly said this is one of the best books for its purposes. Thank you Dr. Fagan. I enjoyed your book, and it has helped grow my understanding of the world and mankind as well.