Archaeology's footprints in the modern world / Michael Brian Schiffer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schiffer, Michael B. (Michael Brian), 1947- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Archaeology--History.

Archaeology.

History.

Archaeology and history.

Social archaeology.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 397 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City : The University of Utah Press, [2017]

Summary:

What is the value of archaeological research to present-day society? Michael Schiffer answers this question with 42 case studies from around the globe to demonstrate archaeology's diverse scientific and humanistic contributions. Drawing on nearly five decades of research, he delivers fascinating yet nontechnical discussions that provide a deeper understanding of what archaeologists do and why. From reconstructing the course of human evolution and behavior in prehistoric times to providing evidence that complements and adjust recorded history or debunks common myths, archaeologists help us understand our human past. They have also played crucial roles in developing techniques essential for the investigation of climate change along with tools for environmental reconstruction. Working for cities, tribes, and federal agencies, archaeologists help manage cultural resources. In forensic contexts, archaeological expertise enables the gathering of critical evidence. In engaging and lively prose, Archaeology's Footprints brings to life a full panorama of contributions that continue to have an impact on modern society. Book jacket.

Contents:

Evaluating myths, sagas, and legends

Debunking the "lost races" myth

Did the Norse beat Columbus to the Americas?

King Solomon's mines

Complementing historical evidence

The confederate submarine, H.L. Hunley

The "poor" potter of Yorktown, Virginia

Nuclear archaeology in the Nevada desert

Enhancing cultural tourism and heritage awareness

Mount Vernon and George Washington's whiskey distillery

Kourion, a Roman town in Cyprus

The World Heritage site of Stonehenge

Collaborating with communities

The Levi Jordan plantation project

The Ozette site and the Makah Indian Nation

Thurstan Shaw and Nigeria's enigmatic bronzes

Pursuing an activist agenda

Remembering the Ludlow Massacre

Advocating for homeless people

Promoting the electric car revival

Reviving ancient technologies

Chipped stone scalpels

Raised-field agriculture in the Andes

Ancient pots and modern potters in the American Southwest

Managing cultural resources

Federal agencies and cultural resource management

Tribal archaeology : the Seminole Indians of Florida

Archaeology in the city of Alexandria, Virginia

Participating in judicial and diplomatic processes

California Indians v. United States

Antiquities acts and the looting of the GE Mound

The international antiquities trade

Doing fieldwork in a forensic context

Solving a murder in the Midlands of England

A Nazi-era mass grave in Ukraine

Recovery of missing American military personnel

Expanding the social sciences

The Garbage Project

The "material-culture turn" in the social sciences

Undocumented migrants face the Arizona desert

Contributing to the physical sciences and engineering

The mysterious pigment : Maya blue

Radiocarbon dating

Nuclear waste disposal

Bolstering biological sciences

Origin of the domesticated sunflower

The pygmy rabbit and applied zooarchaeology

Microbiota of the human gut and coprolites

Furnishing tools for environmental sciences

Tree-ring dating and dendroclimatology

Dating Sunset Crater

Mass extinctions of animals : the human role

Revealing our prehistoric past

In the beginning

From foragers to farmers

The urban revolution.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781607815334

1607815338

OCLC:

955275243