Revealing Archaeology

Vastly more experiential than traditional archaeology textbooks, Revealing^® Archaeology guides students on an interactive exploration of the principles of archaeology. The text of Revealing Archaeology is compact and accessible, but not over-simplified. Thousands of captioned images from throughout the world and a broad variety of archaeological time periods provide a running subtext throughout the courseware. Learning is reinforced with interactive exercises that deepen your students’ understanding as they engage with archaeological problem solving tasks. First-hand accounts written by active archaeologists provide students a glimpse at how the methods and techniques they are learning are used to actively address real-world research questions.

Revealing Archaeology fosters student engagement with integrated interactive activities and data analytic tools such as:

interactive graphing to introduce radiometric dating
a fieldwork simulation whereby students excavate and then analyze the assemblages they uncover;
“excavation” on a cliff-face to teach biostratigraphic correlation
a regional survey comparing settlement types and landscape use
a negotiated land use management plan
and more.

By presenting the basics of archaeology in an engaging manner proven to enhance independent learning, Revealing Archaeology frees up your teaching time, either online or in the classroom, for the kind of learning that teachers provide best: student interaction, discussion, and the opportunity to address specific student needs and interests.

Revealing^® Archaeology Modules:

Humanity’s Imprint
Leaving a Trail
Tracking Down Time
Charting Time
Following the Trail
Detecting Technology
Provisioning Society
Preserving the Trail

Price: $50

Humanity’s Imprint

The Presence of the Past

Goals: Presence of the Past
Our Imprint & the Record
Archaeologists
Material Culture
The Patterned Record
Archaeological Preservation
The Record is Contemporary
A Non-Renewable Resource
A Fragile Record
Summary: Presence of the Past
Try It: Presence of the Past

What is Archaeology?

Goals: What is Archaeology?
Imagination & Questions
Observations & Questions
Message, Codes, & Patterns
Archaeological Data
Research Design
Archaeology’s Challenge
Archaeological Translation
Theory & Interpretation
What Archaeology Isn’t
Summary: What is Archaeology?
Try It: What is Archaeology?

Archaeology’s Goals

Goals: Archaeology’s Goals
Defining Archaeology
Archaeology & History
Archaeology’s Agenda
Reconstruct Culture History
Reconstruct Past Lifeways
Archaeological Explanation
Scales of Explanation
Questions & Answers
The Search for Meaning
Summary: Archaeology’s Goals
Try It: Archaeology’s Goals

Archaeology’s Earliest History

Goals: Archaeology’s Earliest History
Origins of Archaeology
Archaeology’s Roots
Archaism
Speculative Antiquarianism
Ancient Archaeology?
Medieval Times & the Past
The Renaissance & the Past
Summary: Earliest History
Try It: Archaeology’s Earliest History

Archaeology Emerges

Goals: Archaeology Emerges
Antiquity & the Enlightenment
Diverse Speculation
Artifacts & Human Antiquity
America’s First Archaeologist
Expansion & Exposure
Archaeologists & Antiquaries
Establishing Human Antiquity
Discovering Early Civilizations
Summary: Archaeology Emerges
Try It: Archaeology Emerges

Empires & Archaeology

Goals: Empires & Archaeology
Lubbock’s Cultural Evolution
Cultural Stages
Misguided Evolution
19th Century Expansion
The Moundbuilder Myth
Demise of the Moundbuilders
Ethnocentrism at Great Zimbabwe
Summary: Empires & Archaeology
Try It: Empires & Archaeology

Contemporary Archaeology

Goals: Contemporary Archaeology
Classification & Culture History
Ecological Approaches
Archaeology as Anthropology
New Archeology
Middle-Range Theory
Historical Archaeology
Interpretive Archaeologies
A Diverse Future
Summary: Contemporary Archaeology
Try It: Contemporary Archaeology

Leaving a Trail

The Archaeological Record

Goals: The Archaeological Record
Leaving a Patterned Trail
Artifacts
Ecofacts
Features
Structures
Sites
Summary: The Archaeological Record
Try It: The Archaeological Record

Context & Variability

Goals: Context & Variability
The Importance of Context
Provenience
Matrix
Association
Archaeological Variability
Preservation Variability
Variability of Scale
Summary: Context & Variability
Try It: Context & Variability

Cultural Deposition

Goals: Cultural Deposition
Cultural Deposition Processes
Loss
Discard
Abandonment
Burial
Storage & Caching
The Record Accumulates
C-Transforms & N-Transforms
Summary: Cultural Deposition
Try It: Cultural Deposition

Cultural Modification

Goals: Cultural Modification
The Past Transformed
Uniformitarian Reasoning
Formation & Transformation
A Complex Cultural Record
Recycling
Maintenance & Reuse
Trampling
Summary: Cultural Modification
Try It: Cultural Modification

Natural Transformation

Goals: Natural Transformation
Dynamic Landscapes & Environments
Natural Transformations
Weathering
Deposition, Erosion, & Deflation
Soil Genesis, Paleosols & Buried Soils
The Time Factor
Cryoturbation & Pedoturbation
Taphonomy
The Future of the Past
Summary: Natural Transformation
Try It: Natural Transformation

Preservation Environments

Goals: Preservation Environments
Artifact Materials
Cycles of Change
Spectacular Rarities
Organic Preservation
Wet Environments
Dry Environments
Cold Environments
Natural Disasters
Summary: Preservation Environments
Try It: Preservation Environments

Tracking Down Time

Geologic Time

Goals: Geologic Time
What is Geologic Time?
Religion & Geology
Modern Historic Geology
Geologic Nomenclature
Humanity’s Imprint in Geologic Time
The Geologic Time Scale
Hominids & Archaeology
Summary: Geologic Time
Try It: Geologic Time

Thinking & Talking About Time

Goals: Thinking About Time
Thinking About Time
Talking About Time
What is Time?
The Human Time Scale
Ordering Time
Cyclical Time
Serial Time
Perceiving Time
Temporal Scales
Summary: Thinking About Time
Try It: Thinking About Time

Temporal Sequences

Goals: Temporal Sequences
Anthropology’s Time Dimension
Time & Sequence
The Fog
The Flat Past
Unflattening the Past
The Three-Age System
Temporal Models
Making Time Tangible
Relative Chronology
Summary: Temporal Sequences
Try It: Temporal Sequences

Stratigraphy & Sequence

Goals: Stratigraphy & Sequence
Sedimentary Signatures
Deposition of Sediments
Sedimentary Sequences
Strata & Profiles
Stratigraphy
Superposition
Original Horizontality
Lateral Continuity
Summary: Stratigraphy
Try It: Stratigraphy & Sequence

Stratigraphic Correlation

Goals: Stratigraphic Correlation
Regional Stratigraphic Correlation
Correlating Stratigraphic Sequences
Correlation Limitations
Summary: Stratigraphic Correlation
Try It: Stratigraphic Correlation

Biostratigraphy & Index Fossils

Goals: Biostratigraphy
The Biostratigraphic Alternative
Fossils & Natural Historians
William Smith
Correlating Discontinuous Strata
Cuvier & Brongniart
Index Fossils
Evolution & Biostratigraphy
The Coelacanth
Biostratigraphic Correlation
Summary: Biostratigraphy
Try It: Biostratigraphy

Seriation & Sequence

Goals: Seriation & Sequence
Sequencing Change
Seriation
Seriation & Style
The Battleship Curve
Kinds of Seriation
Sir Flinders Petrie
Nels Nelson
Relative Frequency & Change
Seriation & Gravestones
Summary: Seriation & Sequence
Try It: Seriation & Sequence

Charting Time

Scales of Time

Goals: Scales of Time
Pinning Down the Sequences
Linear Time
Temporal Flexibility
Archaeological Time Scales
Tempo
Absolute Time
Association & Context
Summary: Scales of Time
Try It: Scales of Time

Radioactivity & Time

Goals: Radioactivity & Time
Chronometry & Archaeology
Radioactive Clocks
Radiometric Dating
Radiometric Dating Tools
Half-Life
Summary: Radioactivity & Time
Try It: Radioactivity & Time

Radiocarbon Dating

Goals: Radiocarbon Dating
Discovering Radiocarbon
Radiocarbon’s Instability
Radiocarbon’s Origin
Distributing Radiocarbon
The Radiocarbon Clock
Calculating 14C Ages
Radiocarbon Samples
Beta Counting
AMS Counting
Summary: Radiocarbon Dating
Try It: Radiocarbon Dating

Tree-Rings & Calibration

Goals: Tree-Rings & Calibration
Dendrochronology & Climate
Tree-Rings
Dendrochronology & Archaeology
Tree-Ring Variability
Dendrochronology & Radiocarbon
Early Problems with Radiocarbon
Calibrating Radiocarbon Dates
Summary: Tree-Rings & Calibration
Try It: Tree-Rings & Calibration

Radiopotassium Dating

Goals: Radiopotassium Dating
Radiopotassium Decay
Using Radiopotassium
Radiopotassium Samples
Dating with Radiopotassium
Argon-40/Argon-39 Dating
Summary: Radiopotassium Dating
Try It: Radiopotassium Dating

Fission Track Dating

Goals: Fission Track Dating
Fission Tracks
Uranium-238
Uranium in Glass
Counting Fission Tracks
Fission Track Dating Olduvai Gorge
Summary: Fission Track Dating
Try It: Fission Track Dating

Obsidian Hydration Dating

Goals: Obsidian Hydration
Creating Obsidian Surfaces
Obsidian Hydration
Hydration Rinds
Obsidian Hydration Ages
An Archaeological Example
Summary: Obsidian Hydration
Try It: Obsidian Hydration

Luminescence Dating

Goals: Luminescence Dating
Luminescence: Trapped Electrons
Electron Traps
The Luminescence Clock
Luminescence Techniques
Luminescence Time Range
TL Dating
ESR Dating
OSL Dating
Summary: Luminescence Dating
Try It: Luminescence Dating

Magnetic Dating

Goals: Magnetic Dating
Magnetic Dating Methods
Measuring Magnetism
Paleomagnetism
Archaeomagnetism
Summary: Magnetic Dating
Try It: Magnetic Dating

Following the Trail

Designing Fieldwork

Goals: Designing Fieldwork
Field, Research Design, Fieldwork
Responsibilities
Fieldwork Scale
Sampling
Budgets & Funding
Summary: Designing Fieldwork
Try It: Designing Fieldwork

Locating Our Imprint

Goals: Locating Our Imprint
Finding the Record
Exposing Our Imprint
Documentary Sources
Accidental Discovery
Interviews
Searching Systematically
Summary: Locating Our Imprint
Try It: Locating Our Imprint

Regional Survey

Goals: Regional Survey
Why Do We Survey?
Planning, Sampling, Preparing
Visibility & Remote Sensing
Systematic Regional Survey
Site Distributions
Rank/Size Distributions
Summary: Regional Survey
Try It: Regional Survey

Excavation Principles

Goals: Excavation Principles
Planning to Dig
Site Maps
Site Assessment
Matrix, Provenience, Association
Excavation Units
Plotting Precision & Accuracy
Database Management
Summary: Excavation Principles
Try It: Excavation Principles

Detecting Technology

Shifting Frameworks

Goals: Shifting Frameworks
Time, Space, & Form
Taxonomy & Systematics
Artifacts, Data, & Variability
Artifacts & Attributes
Assemblages
Interassemblage Variability
Summary: Shifting Frameworks
Try It: Shifting Frameworks

Archaeological Typology

Goals: Typology
Typology & Types
Constructing Types
Patterning & Variability
Types, Types, & Types
Formal Types
Temporal Types
Functional Types
Summary: Typology
Try It: Typology

Thinking About Technology

Goals: Thinking About Technology
Studying Stuff
Materials
Tools
Techniques
Technology, Systems, & Change
Invention vs. Innovation
Knowledge & Creativity
Diffusion
Technical Choices
Summary: Thinking About Technology
Try It: Thinking About Technology

The Prehistory of Technology

Goals: Prehistory of Technology
Monkeys & Tools
Chimpanzees, Tools, & Learning
The Search for Early Tools
Choppers & Planning
Handaxes & Cognition
Fire: Heat & Light
The Mousterian
The Upper Paleolithic & Beyond
Summary: Prehistory of Technology
Try It: Prehistory of Technology

Studying Technology

Goals: Studying Technology
The Life of an Artifact
Technological Organization
Studying Form
Analyzing Data
Histograms
Scatterplots
Pie Charts & Contingency
Functional Analysis
Experimentation
Summary: Studying Technology
Try It: Studying Technology

Stone

Goals: Stone
Archaeology & Stone Tools
Flintknapping
Debitage
Ground Stone Tools
Studying Lithic Technology
Stone Tool Morphology
Stone Tool Function
Refitting
Lithics & Experimentation
Summary: Stone
Try It: Stone

Skeletal Materials

Goals: Skeletal Materials
Not Just Stone
Early Osseous Tools
Bone & Antler
Shell
Studying Osseous Artifacts
Worked Bone & Antler Typology
Studying Manufacture
Function
Summary: Skeletal Materials
Try It: Skeletal Materials

Pottery

Goals: Pottery
Pottery & Its Origins
Studying Pottery
Clay & Temper
Making Pottery
Sourcing Clay
Pottery Typology
Pot Form & Function
Pottery & Culture
Summary: Pottery
Try It: Pottery

Provisioning Society

Human Subsistence

Goals: Human Subsistence
Provisioning People
Nutrition & Human Evolution
Archaeological Accessibility
Different Grocers
Mobile & Sedentary Foragers
Intensification & Domestication
Explaining Subsistence Change
Subsistence Variability
Summary: Human Subsistence
Try It: Human Subsistence

Subsistence Resources

Goals: Subsistence Resources
Food Resources
Plant Resources
Animal Resources
Wild Foods
Domestic Foods
Cooking
Seasonality
Preservation & Storage
Summary: Subsistence Resources
Try It: Subsistence Resources

Studying Plant Remains

Goals: Studying Plant Remains
Archaeobotany
Macrobotanical Remains
Microbotanical Remains
Pollen
Phytoliths
Comparative Collections
Summary: Studying Plant Remains
Try It: Studying Plant Remains

Studying Animal Remains

Goals: Studying Animal Remains
Zooarchaeology
Durability & Part Abundance
Taphonomic History
Sampling & Counting Bones
Age & Sex
Scavenging, Hunting, & Sharing
Animal Domestication
Summary: Studying Animal Remains
Try It: Studying Animal Remains

Other Evidence

Goals: Other Evidence
Human Remains
Coprolites
Bone Chemistry
Subsistence Tools
Summary: Other Evidence
Try It: Other Evidence

Preserving the Trail

Preserving Our Imprint

Goals: Preserving Our Imprint
What is the Trail?
Cultural Resources
Who Owns the Past?
Summary: Preserving Our Imprint
Try It: Preserving Our Imprint

Preservation Efforts Begin

Goals: Preservation Efforts Begin
Antiquities Research & Preservation
National Parks & Reservations
As the 19th Century Ends
Antiquities Act of 1906
National Monuments
Summary: Preservation Efforts Begin
Try It: Preservation Efforts Begin

Before the Bulldozer

Goals: Before the Bulldozer
WPA Archaeology
HABS
Collection & Documentation
Historic Sites Act of 1935
Archaeology & Urban Expansion
River Basin Surveys
Highways, Reservoirs, & Pipelines
Preservation & the New Archaeology
Summary: Before the Bulldozer
Try It: Before the Bulldozer

Cultural Resource Management

Goals: CRM
CRM
National Historic Preservation Act
The National Register
The Section 106 Process
Preservation in the 60s & 70s
CRM & the Academy
The Sunken Past
Protection on Non-Federal Land
Summary: CRM
Try It: CRM

Organizing the Past

Goals: Organizing the Past
Curation & Management
Curation Regulations
Collections Management
Collections-Based Research
What Should Be Saved?
Site Management
Presenting the Past
Public Education
Summary: Organizing the Past
Try It: Organizing the Past

Owning the Past

Goals: Owning the Past
Looting & Vandalism
The Past for Private Sale
Landowners & Guardianship
Human Burials
Just Compensation
The Archaeological Conservancy
Summary: Owning the Past
Try It: Owning the Past

A Past Without Borders

Goals: A Past Without Borders
Global Culture
Global Past at Risk
Global Responsibility
UNESCO & World Heritage
World Heritage List
Endangered World Heritage
World Heritage Fund
Summary: A Past Without Borders
Try It: A Past Without Borders

Negotiating the Past

Goals: Negotiating the Past
Appropriating the Past
Archaeology & Native Americans
NAGPRA
Repatriation
The African Burial Ground
Patrimony in Peril
Understanding & Compromise
Summary: Negotiating the Past
Try It: Negotiating the Past

About the Authors: Heidi Katz, Ph.D., and Laurence E. Bartram, Jr., Ph.D.

Heidi Katz earned her B.A. from Tufts University and her Ph.D. from New York University, both in Anthropology. Heidi has conducted fieldwork at Paleolithic sites in France, Iron Age sites in Israel, and prehistoric and historic sites in the United States. Her primary research and publication focus is technological innovation and design. Her work includes extensive experimental research on Paleolithic hunting technologies. In addition to journal articles, Heidi (Knecht) is the editor of Projectile Technology (Plenum Press) and co-editor of Before Lascaux: The Complex Record of the Early Upper Paleolithic (CRC Press).

Laurence E. Bartram, Jr. earned his B.A. (Anthropology) from the University of Arizona and his Ph.D. (Anthropology) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has conducted archaeological research in the United States (Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin), Europe (Denmark, France), Africa (Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania), and Asia (China, Kazakhstan). He pursued innovative ethnoarchaeological research with two groups of hunter-gatherers in Africa (Botswana, Tanzania).