Product Description

Fieldwork in archaeology has been transformed over the past three decades. Drawing on a wealth of experience in excavating some of the most complex, deeply-stratified sites in Britain, Steve Roskams describes the changes that have taken place in the theory and practice of excavation. He then provides a clear account of contemporary techniques, covering pre-excavation reconnaissance and site evaluation, the preparations for full excavation, the actual process of excavation, and the recording of photographic, spatial, stratigraphic and physical evidence. A final chapter discusses the future of excavation. This manual will be welcomed by the professional excavator, the academic researcher, students, and the interested amateur.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #110587 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 311 pages

Review
"Well thought out...Excavation is a worthy companion for any excavator." Canadian Field-Journal

Customer Reviews

A usefull book, that stays usefull
This book actually provides you with useful infomation rather than pretty pictures. It is one of the few intro. excavation manuals I have read which manages deal with the needs of both those just beginning in Archaeology and those who have studied it for a little while. Didn't notice the marxist blather personally. I am going into my 3rd year studying Archaeology at UCL and have this book to be handy on several occasions

Well worth a look
For students and those working the field this book presents in a clear and concise manner the theories, methods and practice of excavation as carried out in Britain and Ireland today. Covering many areas from pre-excavation strategy to post-excavation analysis this book would be an ideal addition to the bookself of the student or the vertern of archaeoloigcal, and perhaps even to the site-hut of an archaeoloigcal excavation as both a quick reference guide and a work which details themes such as stratigraphic recording in a clear but concise manner.
For those working in North West Europe it is ideal as it covers the condition and procedures more commonly employed in this region. Though it does not deal in detail with other excavation traditions (Central European, Russian, North American traditions), its approach to the Stratigraphic Matrix and Single Context Recording is invaluable. It is at the end of the day a practical book and though it contains a short (and informative) section providing a historical analysis of "Excavation in Theory" it does not burden the rest of the text with a polemical slant. Well worth a read!

Into the Muck.
What could have been an important addition to the excellent "Cambidge Manuals in Archaeology" series is marred by a great deal of gratuitous political posturing. Is it really necessary in a rather technical volume to subject the reader to a great deal of undigested and poorly conceived Marxist blather? I, for one, would prefer a good discussion of, say, dendrochronology. I found the volume further weakened by the limited horizons of an author who doesn't seem to realize that a world exists beyond the British Isles. A few comments on the rest the world would surely have been in order. Archaeology, above most other disciplines, should have a global perspective.