Field Methods in Archaeology

This is an excellent book for a student of archaeological methods. If you are looking for light reading, as some of the earlier reviews must have been, then look somewhere else.

Fantastic book! Very clear and very comprehensive. If you are serious about archaeology, you'll enjoy this book. If you're a hobbyist or have comprehension issues, you might not enjoy it. Highly recommended.

This is a comprehensive text book, not of the "Archaeology for Dummies" variety. More than a couple universities use this book as their standard text for senior level courses in archaeological field methods. Be prepared to learn rather than entertained...it's a serious work. As for the writing style, most text books could stand to be re-written by some best-selling author, but had to give this one five stars just to bring its score up from the absurd two and a half it is currently rated at.

As a person interested in learning more about archaeology field methods, I found this book had good explanations of some very puzzling processes. It also makes a great textbook and was used to prepare students for a field school by professors at UT Dallas. Good book - but you may have to read it over a couple of times in order to fully grasp all the knowledge presented.

The three recent comments on FIELD METHODS, 7th ed. need some clarification. Yes, the book is long, very long. I didn't know we had any statistics in it (reviewer #1)! It is not comparable to Joukowsky, as her book, like our 6th ed., Hester, et al. l975, is now badly out of date. The 7th ed., l997, is designed as (l) a text, especially for field schools (2) a reference on contemporary approaches to field archaeology. It is not a trade book, especially since Mayfield does not discount to bookstores. The long-winded aspect comes from an effort to review contemporary archaeology, which is changing rapidly and covers a broad area of inquiry. The academic review cards received by Mayfield after publication were overwhelmingly positive. Thus, the book appeals largely to professionals and active avocational archaeologists. It is not a "light read" on the glorious discoveries of archaeology.