Foundations of Archaeology – serie

Originally published by Academic Press in 1976, this book has become a foundational statement in archaeological methodology and has had a lasting impact on the discipline. As Michael Schiffer writes in his new prologue, the work 'played a vital role in establishing as fundamental the behavioral perspective in archaeology.' (Must be distinguished from the collection of articles by Schiffer published by University of Utah Press called Behavioral Archaeology: First Principles.) From the Prologue to the Percheron Press Edition: 'Clearly many issues raised in Behavioral Archeology, as well as its principal ideas, retain considerable relevance for the practice of archaeology. Thus I present this reprinted edition of Behavioral Archeology, warts and all, in the hope that readers will enjoy engaging the ideas that played a pivotal role in establishing as fundamental the behavioral perspective in archaeology.'

Described by Lewis Binford in his new foreword as a 'solid foundation on which to build a vital and growing historical archaeology,' Stanley South's famous book on historical archaeology includes a new introduction by the author that discusses how the book came to be written and the evolution of the field. Widely regarded as one of the most influential books in historical archaeology, the book was originally published by Academic Press in 1977. From the Foreword to the Percheron Press Edition . . . 'Stanley South’s productivity and the arguments presented in this book are a solid foundation on which to build a vital and growing historical archaeology.' Lewis R. Binford, Southern Methodist University

'The Artifacts of Pecos has been widely recognized as a groundbreaking volume by one of the most influential figures in modern American Archaeology.' So writes Fred Wendorf in his new foreword to this classic work published in 1932 by Yale University Press, which he goes on to describe as 'the first description of the complete artifact inventory of a major archaeological site in the Southwest, and possibly in the New World.'

George Frison’s report on the 10,000-year-old Casper Site helped establish how large animal communal kill sites should be excavated, analyzed, and reported. With his background in ranching and hunting, Frison knows more about large animals than any other archaeologist. In The Casper Site Frison began to share that knowledge as well as the techniques of bone bed excavation; that, and the book’s interdisciplinary approach, make it a landmark in paleoindian archaeology and faunal analysis. As Marcel Kornfeld writes in his new introduction, 'One of Frison’s outstanding contributions to Great Plains prehistory has been in the arena of bison studies and bone beds in particular, and Casper is one of its finest examples.' The first edition of this book was published by Academic Press in 1975, and has been out of print for some years.

In this volume, originally published by Smithsonian Institution Press in 1990, the editors present eight thorough case studies on a wide range of environments and cultural contexts to argue the advantages of full-coverage survey-the systematic coverage of a whole study area. A new prologue traces developments of the past two decades and shows how current archaeological practice favors full-coverage research design, both in cultural resource management and research contexts.

George Frison and Dennis Stanford's Agate Basin monograph is not only a classic of Plains paleoindian archaeology, but also of multidisciplinary research, geoarchaeology, zooarchaeology, and experimental archaeology. Lucid presentation of meticulously excavated and analyzed sediments, bones and artifacts convey an unmatched sense of the sights, sounds and smells of Paleoindian life on the High Plains—from brutal winters and blistering summers, to killing and butchering bison, and to making lethal weaponry. As Matthew Hill writes in his new prologue, 'Not merely an important volume of the Frison canon, Agate Basin stands as a foundational document in modern Americanist archaeology and a major accomplishment in American science.' Originally published by Academic Press in 1982

This volume presents four techniques of multivariate analysis commonly used by archaeologists (principal component analysis, correspondence analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis). Employing 'ordinary language' and real data sets, and including extensive literature reviews, the book illustrates how these statistical techniques can be applied to specific archaeological questions. A new introduction by the author updates his discussion in light of subsequent developments in the field of quantitative archaeology. Originally published by Edinburgh University Press in 1994.

New edition with a new Prologue by the author An Archaeology of Elmina examines a complex African settlement on the coast of present-day Ghana from the fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries using the archaeological record, European narratives and indigenous oral histories. Placing the site in broader context as the first European trading post in sub-Saharan Africa, Christopher DeCorse explores the developments there in light of Portuguese, Dutch, and British expansion and illustrates remarkable cultural continuity in the midst of technological change. Originally published by Smithsonian Institution Press in 2001.

Originally published by Smithsonian Institution Press in 1988, this collection uses the historical archaeology of the eastern United States to explore social life, religion, and ideology. A new prologue by Mark Leone defines the elements of culture and identifies those parts of the concept that are important to historical archaeologists. Leone considers public displays of heritage and the role of archaeology in their creation.

This book traces the history of past human settlement, over a period of two thousand years, in one of Mesoamerica’s most important early cities. In his new prologue, Richard Blanton discusses the genesis and background of the project, its impact on the development of urban archaeology, and the changes it stimulated in how archaeologists think about the Mesoamerican past. Originally published in 1978 by Academic Press.

An archaeological study of the growth of Manhattan during the colonial period, this book documents the emergence of Manhattan as the center of class-structured capitalist commercialism in the new nation-state. A new introduction by the author updates her analysis in light of subsequent excavations at urban sites (both in New York and elsewhere) and theoretical advances in the understanding of urban public space. Originally published by Academic Press in 1990.