This Reader presents an easily accessible collection of seminal articles in contemporary Anglo-American archaeological theory for use in introductory undergraduate classes as well as graduate level seminars. It focuses upon the period from 1980 to the present, emphasizing the far-reaching effects of recent internal and external critiques of processual archaeology. The central purpose of the reader is to assist students in thinking about the inter-relationships between theory and practice for different theoretical approaches. An extensive introductory chapter provides a clear account of the main lines of theoretical development within archaeology indicating current areas of debate and controversy. The book is then divided into seven sections each of which is prefaced by an introduction evaluating the nature of the selective contributions in the light of the history of the field. These sections are as follows: cultural ecology; political economy; evolutionary theory; symbolic and structuralist approaches; critical theory; engendering approaches; and archaeology and politics. The book contains 26 substantial readings divided equally between the sections and each prefaced by a headnote. The book concludes with recommendations for further reading and an index. It will be a vital resource for students and teachers of archaeology throughout the world.

Robert W. Preucel is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Associate Curator of North American Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught previously at Southern Illinois University and Harvard University and has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge. His publications include Seasonal Circulation and Dual Residence in the Pueblo Southwest (1990) and, as editor, Processual and Postprocessual Archaeologies (1991).

Ian Hodder is Reader at the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Universities of Amsterdam, Sorbonne, Stanford Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioural Sciences, Minnesota, SUNY (Binghamton) and the University of California, Berkeley. His publications include Symbols in Action (1982), The Present Past (1982), Reading the Past (1986), The Domestication of Europe (1990) and Theory and Practice in Archaeology (1992).