Overview

Bringing together 25 case studies from archaeological projects worldwide, Engaging Archaeology candidly explores personal experiences, successes, challenges, and even frustrations from established and senior archaeologists who share invaluable practical advice for students and early-career professionals engaged in planning and carrying out their own archaeological research. With engaging chapters, such as ‘How Not to Write a PhD Thesis on Neolithic Italy’ and ‘Accidentally Digging Central America's Earliest Village’, readers are transported to the desks, digs, and data-labs of the authors, learning the skills, tricks of the trade, and potential pit-falls of archaeological fieldwork and collections research. Case studies collectively span many regions, time periods, issues, methods, and materials. From the pre-Columbian Andes to Viking Age Iceland, North America to the Middle East, Medieval Ireland to remote north Australia, and Europe to Africa and India, Engaging Archaeology is packed with rich, first-hand source material. Unique and thoughtful, Stephen W. Silliman’s guide is an essential course book for early-stage researchers, advanced undergraduates, and new graduate students, as well as those teaching and mentoring. It will also be insightful and enjoyable reading for veteran archaeologists.

Full Product Details

9781119240501

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Central to the vibrancy of this collection is voice. The chapters are clearly narratives, not academic tomes."" —Canadian Journal of Archaeology/Journal canadien d’archéologie 45:98-100 (2021) ""This volume is a refreshing read for all archaeological researchers, and a must for those just beginning their archaeological careers. It is a book I wish I had been able to read sooner. The case studies are fascinating in themselves, but, accompanied by the less frequently shared experiences of the researchers—both the highs and lows—their value is increased. Authors offer advice on how to enjoy the process of research, rather than its culmination in print (Anna Agbe-Davies), and the importance of drinking tea and shifting methodologies in dismantling the colonial power structures upon which an archaeologist may stand (Uzma Rizvi). The message that echoes throughout the volume is to remain flexible and learn how to value failure, for the experience of the archaeologist, as Arkush states, 'is always getting it wrong, but a little less wrong than before.'"" (Antiquity 2020 Vol. 94 (377): 1387-1394, New Book Chronicle, Claire Nesbitt)

Author Information

Stephen W. Silliman is Professor - and current Department Chair - in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He has conducted fieldwork in the Northeastern USA, the American West Coast, Bermuda, and Japan. His research interests focus on Native American history, colonialism and post-colonialism, identity, social and practice theories, collaborative research, and the politics of heritage.

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