Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

This is a great book for anyone interested in archaeology. It is well written and concise, and it is highly readable for the layperson. I would even go so far as to call it entertaining! The author brings a lot of information to the table, cuts it down into bite-size bits, and serves it up with a distinct tongue-in-cheek flavor.

In the Preface to this excellent little book, the author says his intention is to give the reader a taste of the subject and to help students decide if they want to study archeology at University. It performs those tasks admirably. It quite rightly provides a very broad overview rather than going deeply into specific topics, but manages to cram in loads of interesting facts along the way. The tone is jocular, and sometimes the humor is rather forced ("Relative dating does not mean going out with your cousin") but for the most part it works, and Bill Tidy's cartoons are well up to standard. Bahn is pretty harsh with some modern archeological notions, and objectivity toward his peers is clearly not a priority with him, but I don't think this seriously distorts what he has to say. The very title betrays the fact that this is a British publication with British usage and spellings, but I did not spot anything that would cause a problem for an American reader. I do not know of a better short introduction to the subject than this book. Following this, you might want to read Egyptology, another excellent entry in the same series.

...maybe a tad too short. The book does a good job of explaining what archaeology is and how is works. From microwear to monuments, from dating methods to grave robbing, from gender issues to mass tourism, the book tries to touch on almost everything that is linked to archaeology or related to it. In some ways it tries to cover too much for such a small book and I finished the book wishing for more details on the history of archaeology and how it works.

It is a very good book if you want to learn about Archaeology, but not if you want information about the subject. It is a VERY quick overview. Nothing radical or extreme, and very objective.

Extremely funny and interesting introduction to the subject. I'm still reading it and I feel sad thinking about the moment when I'll have read it. Even if you're not interested in archaeology, believe me, when you're through with this, you'll run for the first book on the "Further reading" list. Especially if you're in high school, like me, and are not sure what to do with your life, like me, READ THIS AND YOU WILL SEE THE MEANING OF LIFE!! THIS IS IT!!!That would be all from me; read this book and write me and we can discuss it together. Au reservoir!