Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introducing archaeology -- The beginnings of scientific archaeology: sixth century B.C. to the 1950s -- The many-voiced past: archaeologica l thought from the 1950s to now -- The basics -- Matrix and preservatio n -- Doing archaeological research -- Culture, data, and context -- How old is it? -- Recovering the data -- They sought it here, they sought it there: finding the past -- How to excavate -- Analyzing the past: ar tifacts and technology -- Classifying artifacts -- Technologies of the ancients -- Studying environments and people -- Ancient environments -- What did we eat? -- The living past -- Landscape and settlement -- Int eractions: people of the past -- Archaeology and the intangible -- Mana ging the past -- Cultural resource management (crm[nh2]) and public arc haeology -- Archaeology and contemporary society -- Careers and resourc es -- So you want to become an archaeologist?