Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology Edited by: Thomas E. Levy
Editorial Board:
Guillermo Algaze (University of California, San Diego) Geoffrey E. Braswell (University of California, San Diego) Paul S. Goldstein (University of California, San Diego) Joyce Marcus (University of Michigan)
This series recognizes the fundamental role that anthropology now plays in archaeology and also integrates the strengths of various research paradigms that characterize archaeology on the world scene today. Some of these different approaches include ‘New’ or ‘Processual’ archaeology, ‘Post-Processual’, evolutionist, cognitive, symbolic, Marxist, and historical archaeologies. Anthropological archaeology accomplishes its goals by taking into account the cultural and, when possible, historical context of the material remains being studied. This involves the development of models concerning the formative role of cognition, symbolism, and ideology in human societies to explain the more material and economic dimensions of human culture that are the natural purview of archaeological data. It also involves an understanding of the cultural ecology of the societies being studied, and of the limitations and opportunities that the environment (both natural and cultural) imposes on the evolution or devolution of human societies. Based on the assumption that cultures never develop in isolation, Anthropological Archaeology takes a regional approach to tackling fundamental issues concerning past cultural evolution anywhere in the world.