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Archaeology for KidArchaeology For Kid, What does an Archaeologist Really do? Kid Archeologist Activities, How to do a Garden Dig, Tools for the Aspiring Archaeologist. |
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February 28th, 2010
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Archaeology
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4 Responses to “Archaeology For Dummies”
February 28th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
As a professional archaeologist, I was interested in how the author introduced the archaeology that people might want to know. Consider a high-school student considering a survey of the family farm for a science fair project, a landowner who learns she has a site on her property and wants to know her rights and responsibilities, a project manager who gets a letter from somebody called a SHPO saying that the project cannot proceed before certain things are done. Well, this book won’t help any of those people. Neither does it convey well the magic that we archaeologists perform – taking garbage and lost items from times past and using them to construct images of how people lived. Lots of things are mentioned here, but few are actually explained. Some information is labeled “technical stuff,” and the reader is advised that he doesn’t have to read it, but these set-asides seem more or less randomly chosen; on one page metal detectors are in such a set-aside, but on the next page a geochemical sampling program using phosphate detection is not. In summary, I can’t think of anyone who is really likely to benefit much from reading this book.
Rating: 1 / 5
February 28th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
When I first saw there was an Archaeology for Dummies book, I let out a groan. While fanciful depictions of Egyptians, Aztecs, or Indiana Jones generate a large amount of public interest in the subject, those depictions can be a tad out of line with the experience of today’s archaeologist. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by this book! White spends a great deal of time chronicling the realities of discipline, giving good insight into the who, what, where, when, why, and how archaeology is done. Quite honestly, I wish this book had been around when I was an undergraduate anthropology major! I’d highly recommend its use as some sort of supplemental text in an intro-level archaeology or anthropology class. Older children and adults with a strong curiosity about archaeology would also benefit from a reading of this book.
Rating: 5 / 5
February 28th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Its an introduction for Dummies…as such it lives up to the brand expectation and delivers a solid well rounded and broad coverage of the topic.
Rating: 4 / 5
February 28th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
Archaeology has come a long way from the old treasure hunting days. Today’s archaeology is a lot of science, and it is nice to have a book that can explain the new things in a basic understandable way. Great book.
Rating: 5 / 5