Customer Reviews

Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the Preface to this excellent little book, the author says his intention is to give the reader a taste of the subject and to help students decide if they want to study archeology at University. It performs those tasks admirably. It quite rightly provides a very broad overview rather than going deeply into specific topics, but manages to cram in loads of interesting facts along the way. The tone is jocular, and sometimes the humor is rather forced ("Relative dating does not mean going out with your cousin") but for the most part it works, and Bill Tidy's cartoons are well up to standard.

Bahn is pretty harsh with some modern archeological notions, and objectivity toward his peers is clearly not a priority with him, but I don't think this seriously distorts what he has to say.

The very title betrays the fact that this is a British publication with British usage and spellings, but I did not spot anything that would cause a problem for an American reader.

I do not know of a better short introduction to the subject than this book. Following this, you might want to read Egyptology, another excellent entry in the same series.

This would have been a better book if the author had given more examples of the aspects of archeology of which he spoke. For instance, Bahn wrote about theoretical archeology, but he never described an instance in which a researcher used theoretical archeology to arrive at a particular conclusion.

The book was easy to read, but I did not learn that much from it. Mostly what I got out of it was that carbon dating does not assume that the levels of radioactive carbon have been constant throughout history. Varves are a way of dating that involves counting the layers of annual sedimentation deposits in certain frosty locales.

The book needed to be short, but I thought he should cut back on the breadth and provide more specific info about what he does discuss. Some of the discussions are pointless. He goes on at length about archeology's obligation to teach us about the past, but we all knew that anyway.

The humor was mildly amusing, but the writer is not a gifted comic.

In recent years archaeology has acquired a bit of a split personality. The traditional academic discipline of archaeology is still concerned with digging old objects out of the ground and making educated and informed ideas about past peoples and civilizations based on the artifacts of their material culture. It is a well-established and respectable discipline, but it suffers from all the image issues that other scholarly activities are plagued with. It is considered stuffy, pedantic, uncool, and concerned with distant past and things that most people don't really care about. On the other hand thanks to a few highly successful movie franchises (Indiana Jones and the "Mummy" movies come to mind) archaeologists have risen high in the popular esteem, especially with the younger generations. Many boys and girls today grow up dreaming of becoming an archaeologist in hopes that they will discover an ancient artifact with mystical and otherworldly powers.

This short book is a well presented introduction to archaeology. Paul Bhan is a very engaging and sometimes quirky writer who nonetheless knows how to present archaeology in a very informative and accurate manner. In this short introduction he presents all important facets of archaeology providing the reader with a very comprehensive view of this field. The writing is lucid and engaging, and Bhan throws in an occasional joke or pun here or there. Most of them are amusing, but some of them fall flat or make you scratch your head. Nonetheless, these comic diversions show a lot of character, and this is one of the books with the most personality in the entire very short introduction series. There are also numerous archaeology-themed cartoons throughout the book, and they too make this a unique very short introduction. I didn't find the cartoons terribly amusing, but taste in humor is a very individual matter.

One of the most admirable traits of this short book is that Bahn is very honest and forthright in dealing with all the less than savory aspects of the discipline of archaeology - petty rivalries, overly pompous "experts," and a sense of self-importance that is disproportionate to the everyday relevance. Bahn is also not impressed with some of the latest conceptual trends in archaeology, but unfortunately it seems that those are in ascendance within the walls of modern academia. In the light of that this short introduction is especially valuable as an example of what clear and to-the-point educational approach ought to look like.

Who said that in short we can not do what is necessary? This is a book very simple, very short but were we can learn the basics of Archaeology, and understand what a wonderful work this is.

The book arrived right on time for when I needed it for class. I've learned a lot from it. Great book. :)

The book I ordered looked brand new, and I received it very quickly. I would order from this seller again in the future.

This is a great book for anyone interested in archaeology. It is well written and concise, and it is highly readable for the layperson. I would even go so far as to call it entertaining! The author brings a lot of information to the table, cuts it down into bite-size bits, and serves it up with a distinct tongue-in-cheek flavor.

Extremely funny and interesting introduction to the subject. I'm still reading it and I feel sad thinking about the moment when I'll have read it. Even if you're not interested in archaeology, believe me, when you're through with this, you'll run for the first book on the "Further reading" list. Especially if you're in high school, like me, and are not sure what to do with your life, like me, READ THIS AND YOU WILL SEE THE MEANING OF LIFE!! THIS IS IT!!!

That would be all from me; read this book and write me and we can discuss it together. Au reservoir!

...maybe a tad too short. The book does a good job of explaining what archaeology is and how is works. From microwear to monuments, from dating methods to grave robbing, from gender issues to mass tourism, the book tries to touch on almost everything that is linked to archaeology or related to it. In some ways it tries to cover too much for such a small book and I finished the book wishing for more details on the history of archaeology and how it works.

It is a very good book if you want to learn about Archaeology, but not if you want information about the subject. It is a VERY quick overview. Nothing radical or extreme, and very objective.