Social Theory in Archaeology and Ancient History

The Present and Future of Counternarratives

Geoff Emberling

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781107053335
• eBook ISBN: 9781316455470
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

At a time when archaeology has turned away from questions of the long-term and large scale, this collection of essays reflects on some of the big questions in archaeology and ancient history - how and why societies have grown in scale and complexity, how they have maintained and discarded aspects of their own cultural heritage, and how they have collapsed. In addressing these long-standing questions of broad interest and importance, the authors develop counter-narratives - new ways of understanding what used to be termed 'cultural evolution'. Encompassing the Middle East and Egypt, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, the American Southwest and Mesoamerica, the fourteen essays offer perspectives on long-term cultural trajectories; on cities, states and empires; on collapse; and on the relationship between archaeology and history. The book concludes with a commentary by one of the major voices in archaeological theory, Norman Yoffee.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Table of contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Preface
• Part One Introduction
• Part Two Cultural Trajectories
• Part Three Cities, States, and Empires
• Part Four Collapse and Resilience
• Part Five Archaeology and History
• Part Six Commentary
• Index