Synopses & Reviews
This is the most wide-ranging, comprehensive, and up-to-date dictionary of archaeology available. Over 4,000 A-Z entries explain the terms encountered in academic and popular archaeological literature, in lectures, and on television. Topics covered include artifacts, techniques, terminology, people, sites, and periods, and specialist areas such as industrial and maritime archaeology. This second edition is fully revised and updated, with 150 new entries on archaeological sites, terms, movements, and people, plus extended coverage of archaeological resource management and archaeological theory. While the dictionary's primary focus is on Europe, the Old World, and the Americas, as these are the regions where archaeology has become best established, it also includes key archaeological sites around the world. A quick-reference section covers chronological periods, Egyptian rulers and dynasties, Roman rulers and dynasties, rulers of England to AD 1066, and principal international conventions and recommendations. New to this edition are recommended, up-to-date web links for over 100 entries on the Dictionary of Archaeology companion website, regularly updated to keep links completely current.
Review
"Archaeologists' jargon can be hard on the amateur and Timothy Darvill's dictionary is good at demystifying it."--
Sunday TelegraphSynopsis
With over 4,000 entries covering the essential vocabulary for everyday archaeological work in the English language, this up-to-date dictionary is the most wide-ranging and comprehensive of its kind. There is coverage of principles, theories, techniques, artefacts, materials, people, places, monuments, equipment, and descriptive terms--from amphora to ziggurat, and Beaker Culture to molluscan analysis. The dictionary focuses especially on Europe, the Old World, and the Americas, and covers legislation relating to the United Kingdom and the USA. The archaeology of a selection of key sites from around the world is also described.
A quick reference section of maps and tables provides an easy way to rapidly locate information on the main chronological periods and traditions, international conventions, and stratigraphic subdivisions. Written by a leading authority, the dictionary's detailed but clear entries provide an essential reference source for students, teachers, professionals, and enthusiasts alike.
About the Author
Timothy Darvill is Professor of Archaeology at Bournemouth University, and is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He graduated from Southampton University and has worked for the Western Archaeological Trust and the Council for British Archaeology. He has directed a number of excavations, was secretary of the Committee for Archaeology in Gloucestershire, and secretary of CBA Group 13. He has also served on the Council of the National Trust and was chairman of the Institute of Field Archaeologists. He is currently chairman of the board of directors of the Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd. His previous publications include numerous reports and papers in academic and popular journals, and he has written several books including:
The Archaeology of the Uplands (1986),
Prehistoric Britain (1987), and
Prehistoric Britain from the Air (1997),
England: An Archaeological Guide (2002), and
Stonehenge: the biography of a landscape (2006) .