Welcome to the archaeology of the United States research guide. The purpose of this guide is to provide direction to federal and state laws, regulations, practices, contact information, and archaeological sites. Please be patient as we continually update this guide with the most current information.
Franklin: Catalog & Articles+ searches both Franklin: Catalog for materials held by Penn Libraries and Franklin: Articles+ for content in many bibliographic databases and full-text resources.
Because the Franklin Catalog uses standard Library of Congress subject headings in records, searches by Subject Heading Browse or Subject Heading Keyword formulated as follows may be useful:
American Antiquities: Revisiting the Origins of American Archaeology by
Writing the history of American archaeology, especially concerning eighteenth- and nineteenth-century arguments, is not always as straightforward as it might seem. Archaeology's trajectory from an avocation to a semi-profession to a specialized profession, rather than being a linear progression, was an untidy organic process that emerged from the intellectual tradition of antiquarianism. It then closely allied itself with the natural sciences throughout the nineteenth century, especially with geology and the debate about the origins and identity of the indigenous mound-building cultures of the eastern United States. In his reexamination of the eclectic interests and equally varied settings of nascent American archaeology, Terry A. Barnhart exposes several fundamental, deeply embedded historiographical problems within the secondary literature relating to the nineteenth-century debate about "Mound Builders" and "American Indians." Some issues are perceptual, others contextual, and still others are basic errors of fact. Adding to the problem are semantic and contextual considerations arising from the problematic use of the term "race" as a synonym for tribe, nation, and race proper--a concept and construct that does not in all instances translate into current understanding and usage. American Antiquities uses this early discourse on the mounds to reframe perennial anthropological problems relating to human origins and antiquity in North America.
The Archaeologist's Field Handbook by
This comprehensive handbook provides step-by-step instructions on how to do archaeological fieldwork in North America. The wealth of diagrams, photos, maps and checklists clearly illustrate how to design, fund, research, map, record, interpret, photograph, and present archaeological surveys and excavations.
Archaeology in Practice by
Archaeology in Practice: A Student Guide to Archaeological Analyses offers students in archaeology laboratory courses a detailed and invaluable how-to manual of archaeological methods and provides insight into the breadth of modern archaeology. Written by specialists of material analyses, whose expertise represents a broad geographic range Includes numerous examples of applications of archaeological techniques Organized by material types, such as animal bones, ceramics, stone artifacts, and documentary sources, or by themes, such as dating, ethics, and report writing Written accessibly and amply referenced to provide readers with a guide to further resources on techniques and their applications Enlivened by a range of boxed case studies throughout the main text
Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology by
Archaeology - the study of human cultures through the analysis and interpretation of artefacts and material remains - continues to captivate and engage people on a local and global level. Internationally celebrated heritage sites such as the pyramids--both Egyptian and Mayan--Lascaux caves, and the statues of Easter Island provide insights into our ancestors and their actions and motivation. But there is much more to archaeology than famous sites. Ask any archaeologist about their job and they will touch on archaeological theory, chemistry, geology, history, classical studies, museum studies, ethical practice, and survey methods, along with the analysis and interpretation of artefacts and sites. Archaeology is a much broader subject than its public image and branches into many other fields in the social and physical sciences. This multi-volume work provides a comprehensive and systematic coverage of archaeology that is unprecedented, not only in terms of the use of multi-media, but also in terms of content. It encompasses the breadth of the subject along with key aspects that are tapped from other disciplines. It includes all time periods and regions of the world and all stages of human development. Mostly importantly, this encyclopedia includes the knowledge of leading scholars from around the world. The entries in this encyclopedia range from succinct summaries of specific sites and the scientific aspects of archaeological enquiry to detailed discussions of archaeological concepts, theories and methods, and from investigations into the social, ethical and political dimensions of archaeological practice to biographies of leading archaeologists from throughout the world. The different forms of archaeology are explored, along with the techniques used for each and the challenges, concerns and issues that face archaeologists today. The Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology has two outstanding innovations. The first is that scholars were able to submit entries in their own language. Over 300,000 words have been translated from French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Japanese, Turkish and Russian. Many of these entries are by scholars who are publishing in English for the first time. This compendium is both a print reference and an online reference work. The encyclopedia's second major innovation is that it harnesses the capabilities of an online environment, enhancing both the presentation and dissemination of information. Most particularly, the continuous updating allowed by an online environment should ensure that the Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology is a definitive reference work for archaeology and archaeologists.
A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America by 
North American Archaeology by 
The Oxford Handbook of North American Archaeology by Gray Literature Databases:
Artifact Identification Resources:
Cheyenne Riehl
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