In 1958 Gordon R. Willey and Philip Phillips first published Method and Theory in American Archaeology - a volume that went through five printings, the last in 1967 at the height of what became known as the new, or processual, archaeology. The advent of processual archaeology, according to Willey and Phillips, represented a "theoretical debate...a question of whether archaeology should be the study of cultural history or the study of cultural process." Willey and Phillips suggested that little interpretation had taken place in American archaeology, and their book offered an analytical perspective; the methods they described and the structural framework they used for synthesizing American prehistory were all geared toward interpretation. Method and Theory served as the catalyst and primary reader on the topic for over a decade. This facsimile reprint edition of the original University of Chicago Press volume includes a new foreword by Gordon R. Willey, which outlines the state of American archaeology at the time of the original publication, and a new introduction by the editors to place the book in historical context. The bibliography is exhaustive. Academic libraries, students, professionals, and knowledgeable amateurs will welcome this new edition of a standard-maker among texts on American archaeology.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
A True Archaeological Classic:
This book is consistently cited in nearly all works on archaeological theory for the past fifty years - and rightfully so. Willey and Phillips' observations on the state of archaeology in their own time, and on the cultural phases of Native American societies, formed much of the basis for all of the works that came after. I highly recommend this book in its entirety for anyone interested in archaeology or anthropology.
The best tutor!:
This book is the best M&T tutor! It explains M&T in much more detail than my required reader, which is a compilation of articles (which deciferring should be a class of its own!).
