Skip to content
Scan a barcode
Scan
Paperback Method and Theory in American Archaeology Book

ISBN: 0817310886

ISBN13: 9780817310882

Method and Theory in American Archaeology

(Part of the Classics of Southeastern Archaeology Series)

Select Format

Select Condition ThriftBooks Help Icon

Recommended

Format: Paperback

Condition: Acceptable

$9.59
Save $30.36!
List Price $39.95
Almost Gone, Only 1 Left!

Book Overview

A Dan Josselyn Memorial Publication

This invaluable classic provides the framework for the development of American archaeology during the last half of the 20th century.

In 1958 Gordon R. Willey and Philip Phillips first published Method and Theory in American Archaeology--a volume that went through five printings, the last in 1967 at the height of what became known as the new, or processual, archaeology. The advent of processual archaeology, according to Willey and Phillips, represented a "theoretical debate . . . a question of whether archaeology should be the study of cultural history or the study of cultural process."

Willey and Phillips suggested that little interpretation had taken place in American archaeology, and their book offered an analytical perspective; the methods they described and the structural framework they used for synthesizing American prehistory were all geared toward interpretation. Method and Theory served as the catalyst and primary reader on the topic for over a decade.

This facsimile reprint edition of the original University of Chicago Press volume includes a new foreword by Gordon R. Willey, which outlines the state of American archaeology at the time of the original publication, and a new introduction by the editors to place the book in historical context. The bibliography is exhaustive. Academic libraries, students, professionals, and knowledgeable amateurs will welcome this new edition of a standard-maker among texts on American archaeology.



Customer Reviews

2 ratings

A True Archaeological Classic

This book is consistently cited in nearly all works on archaeological theory for the past fifty years - and rightfully so. Willey and Phillips' observations on the state of archaeology in their own time, and on the cultural phases of Native American societies, formed much of the basis for all of the works that came after. I highly recommend this book in its entirety for anyone interested in archaeology or anthropology.

The best tutor!

This book is the best M & T tutor! It explains M & T in much more detail than my required reader, which is a compilation of articles (which deciferring should be a class of its own!).
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
GoDaddy Verified and Secured