The Practical Archaeologist: How We Know What We Know About the Past

This reference to the world of modern archaeology provides a practical understanding of what archaeology is, how archaeologists work, and how they interpret the evidence they find. This revised edition focuses on such critical new developments as: CAT scans, DNA analysis and facial reconstruction; computers and archaeology, including virtual reality reconstruction of buildings and pyramids; spectacular royal burials at Sipan; advances in the study of diet, including the chemical composition of human bones and food residues on vessels; new dating technologies; satellite and ground surveys, and what they reveal about Maya lifeways; new analyses of the Sutton Hoo ship burial, including "sand ghosts"; the latest ideas on megaliths and studies of the bones they contain; and techniques of underwater archaeology.