Discovering Our Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology [Paperback]

Wendy Ashmore (Author), Robert Sharer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072978821 | ISBN-13: 978-0072978827 | Publication Date: August 19, 2005 | Edition: 4

This brief, inexpensive introduction to the techniques, methods, and theoretical frameworks of contemporary archaeology follows the same organizing principle as the text Archaeology: Discovering Our Past but features less detail. Archaeological methods and theory are covered comprehensively--at a reasonable level of detail--in under 300 pages. Illustrative examples and case studies present a temporal and geographic balance of both Old and New World sites. Abundant student aids include maps of archaeological areas, extensive illustrations, chapter introductions and summaries, a guide to further reading at the end of each chapter, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Wendy Ashmore is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Riverside. Her research centers on settlement patterns, household archaeology, gender, and ancient space and place in southeastern Mesoamerica. Publications include Settlement Archaeology at Quiriguá, Guatemala (University of Pennsylvania Museum, 2007), and edited volumes on Lowland Maya Settlement Patterns (New Mexico, 1981), Household and Community in the Mesoamerican Past (with R. R. Wilk, New Mexico, 1988), Archaeologies of Landscape: Contemporary Approaches (with A. B. Knapp, Blackwell, 1999), and Integrating the Diversity of 21st-Century Anthropology: The Life and Intellectual Legacies of Susan Kent (with M.-A. Dobres, S. M. Nelson, and A. Rosen, American Anthropological Association, 2006), together with numerous articles and book chapters on these and related topics.

Robert J. Sharer is Shoemaker Professor in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and Curator of the American Section at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. He has published over 100 scholarly articles, and several monographs reporting the results of his archaeological research, including a three-volume Chalchuapa report (1978), and a one-volume Verapaz report (1987). He is general editor of the Quirigua Reports, with four volumes published (1979, 1983, 1993, and 2007), and general editor of the forthcoming Early Classic Copan Acropolis Reports. He has co-edited five books, including Regional Perspectives on the Olmec (1989) and Understanding Early Classic Copán (2004), and is the author of Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center and Its Sculpture (1990), Everyday Life in Maya Civilization (1996), and three editions of The Ancient Maya, the most recent a completely revised work in collaboration with Loa P. Traxler.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 4 edition (August 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072978821
• ISBN-13: 978-0072978827
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #163,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not like most college textbooks, May 15, 2000

By 

jasenao (Dothan, Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discovering Our Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology (Paperback)

I'm currently a student and i'm taking an Introducion to Archaeology course because I've always been interested in learning a little bit about archaeology. This is the book that I have to use for my class and most of the time I dread having to read the books in any of my classes, but this book is an exception. Even if I wasn't taking the course in college, I would enjoy reading this book.

It gives you an overview of what archaeologists do for a living and tells of many excavations and other archaeological discoveries. Unlike most textbooks, it not only gives definitions and gives information about the subject, but it tells stories that will interest you and actually make you want to read the book for a change.

If you want to read about what archaeology is about, I recommend reading this book. It has a lot of good information and it's interesting.

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth your time, November 26, 2011

By 

Jill - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discovering Our Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology (Paperback)

This book is informative, poignant, and easy to understand. I would most definitely suggest it to people who want to gain a basic understanding of archaeology without putting to much effort into research. Also, for an intro to the subsets of archaeology, try [...]

4.0 out of 5 stars Intro to Archaeology, February 28, 2011

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Angry - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discovering Our Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology (Paperback)

I bought Discovering Our Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology by Wendy Ashmore for my anthropology class, Intro to Archaeology. We are usually assigned a chapter at the end of every class as part of our homework assignment and I never look forward to it. It isn't the more exciting book but it also isn't the worst. The condition of the book was alright, some highlighting and notes but you get what you pay for. I'd much rather have the highlighting and not have to pay as much.