Fundamental Archaeological Concepts

Origins, Histories, Definitions

R. Lee Lyman

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2026
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798216196204
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: Social Sciences

A much-needed deep dive into some of the main concepts of archaeology, offering a comprehensive explanation and definition of commonly used terms.

Modern archaeology includes a number of fundamental concepts. This volume compiles in one place the origins, developmental histories, and definitions of more than two dozen of archaeology's most fundamental concepts. Concepts discussed include artifact, assemblage, association, context, ecofact, feature, industry, in situ, period, provenience, site, stage, tool kit, and type/index fossil.

The volume is neither a dictionary nor an encyclopedia. Its goals are:
1) to document the origin and history of each of the terms/concepts,
2) to present many of the definitions of each of the terms/concepts, and
3) to document the variability in definitions of each term/concept. Two sources of 'formal' data are reviewed.

All sources were searched for the 27 concepts, and data recorded regarding (1) whether or not a term/concept appeared in each piece of literature, (2) the appearance of a particular concept without its associated term in each piece of literature, (3) the appearance of a particular term without definition or discussion of its associated concept in each piece of literature, and (4) the appearance of a particular term with an included definition and presenting the definition from each piece of literature. These formal data are supplemented with information on concepts encountered while reading other literature not included in the 'formal' samples of early literature and introductory textbooks.

This book is unique among the archaeological literature for its synopses of much of the literature, coverage of the history and meanings of archaeological concepts used in fieldwork and analysis is thorough, and the varied definitions of concepts are summarized and easily consulted.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Tables
• Figures
• Preface
• Part I: Why a Book on Archaeological Concepts
• Why a Book on Archaeological Concepts?: Introduction
• Part II: The Fundamental Concepts
• Chapter 1: Activity Area
• Chapter 2: Archaeological Culture
• Chapter 3: Artifact
• Chapter 4: Assemblage [Subassemblage]
• Chapter 5: Association (Associated)
• Chapter 6: Cache
• Chapter 7: Component
• Chapter 8: Context
• Chapter 9: Cultural Process
• Chapter 10: Ecofact
• Chapter 11: Feature
• Chapter 12: Horizon (Horizon Style)
• Chapter 13: In Situ
• Chapter 14: Industry
• Chapter 15: Manuport
• Chapter 16: Material Culture (Material Remains of a Culture; Cultural Material Remains)
• Chapter 17: Mental Template (Norm)
• Chapter 18: Midden
• Chapter 19: Period
• Chapter 20: Phase (Focus)
• Chapter 21: Provenience (Provenance)
• Chapter 22: Site
• Chapter 23: Site structure
• Chapter 24: Stage
• Chapter 25: Tool Kit
• Chapter 26: Tradition
• Chapter 27: Type/Index Fossil (Temporal Type)
• Appendix 1: List of Introductory Archaeology Textbooks Surveyed
• Appendix 2: List of Dictionaries (N = 10, Excluding Bray and Trump 1970b as It Is a Duplicate of Bray and Trump 1970a) and Encyclopedias (N = 3) Surveyed
• Appendix 3: Early Archaeological Literature Examined for Occurrence of Terms Used
• Subject Index
• Author Index
• About the Author