Interpretative archaeology
By: edited by Christopher Tilley.
Contributors: Tilley, Christopher Y.
Series: Explorations in anthropology
Publisher: Berg
Published: 1993
Place of publication: Providence
Language: eng
Number of pages: 454
Subjects: Archaeology -- Philosophy.; Archaeology.
Description: Archaeology, most of us learned in school, consists in the painstaking digging up and sifting of relics from extinct cultures; hardly an exciting or indeed interesting activity - for most of us. Archaeologists and anthropologists, professional and otherwise, know better. In the buried structures and detritus of ancient cultures can be found a world of knowledge and insight - empirical and theoretical - into their cultures as well as our own.

This fascinating volume brings these worlds to life, by integrating recent developments in anthropological and sociological theory with a series of detailed studies of prehistoric material culture. It is an exploration of the manner in which semiotic, hermeneutic, Marxist, and post-structuralist approaches radically alter our understanding of the past, and provides a series of innovative studies of key areas of interest to archaeologists and anthropologists.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.