The Archaeologist's Laboratory: The Analysis of Archaeological Data

This text reviews the theory, concepts, and basic methods involved in archaeological analysis. Its aim is to familiarize both students and professionals with the principles that underlie many kinds of archaeological analysis, to encourage sound laboratory practice, and to demonstrate some of the common theoretical issues that different kinds of analyses all share. Banning opens with a discussion of the nature and presentation of -and the errors in- data and briefly reviews archaeological systematics, database and research design, sampling and quantification, modeling data, and basic artifact handling and conservation. Chapters on lithics, pottery, faunal, botanical, and soil remains follow and chapters on seriation, interpreting dates, and archaeological illustration close out the book. Intended as a text for students in upper-division undergraduate and graduate-level courses as well as a manual for professional researchers and cultural resource management practitioners, the book is abundantly illustrated and referenced and includes a glossary of key terms. Suggested laboratory exercises to accompany the text are available on a web site.