Practicing Archaeology

An Introduction to Cultural Resources Archaeology

By (author) Thomas W. Neumann, Robert M. Sanford

Not available to order

Publication date:

16 April 2010

Length of book:

366 pages

Publisher

AltaMira Press

ISBN-13: 9780759118065

This comprehensive reference book addresses the questions and problems of cultural resource archaeology for graduate students and practicing archaeological field workers. Neumann and Sanford use their decades of field experience to discuss in great detail the complex processes involved in conducting a CRM project. Dealing with everything from law to logistics, archival research to zoological analysis, project proposals to report production, they provide an invaluable sourcebook for archaeologists who do contract work in the United States. After introducing the legal and ethical aspects of cultural resources management, the authors describe the processes of designing a proposal and contracting for work, doing background research, conducting assessment, testing, mitigation work (Phase I, II, and III), laboratory analysis, and preparing reports for project sponsors. The volume's emphasis on practical problems, use of extensive examples, and detailed advice on a host of subjects make it an ideal training manual and reference tool for archaeologists and field schools.
Reading Neumann and Sanford's prose is akin to being in the field or lab with a trusted and knowledgeable mentor who has copious stories to share that are imbued with layer after layer of useful inside information.... In short, Practicing Archaeology gets one as close to the action as a text can.