The Five-Minute Archaeologist in the Southern Levant

The Five-Minute Archaeologist in the Southern Levant is a user-friendly exploration of basic concepts within archaeology and the techniques and methods used by archaeologists in the field. It is intended for students and lay readers alike, such as those participating in community archaeology for the first time, and would be an excellent reader for introductory level courses on the archaeology of the Southern Levant. Topics range from basic questions such as ‘how do archaeologists choose where to dig?’ to surveys of archaeological concepts and types of archaeology, written by specialists in those particular fields. Chapters are informal and relaxed-more like a chat or discussion that will help to answer some of the basic questions that archaeologists are often asked.

Table of Contents Preliminaries Introduction Cynthia Shafer-Elliott Part 1: Basics 1. What is archaeology? Aren Maeir 2. How does archaeology help us understand the past? Merilyn Copland 3. What do tells tell us? Merilyn Copland 4. Who pays for all this? Oded Borowski 5. Do archaeologists just dig, or is there a plan? Itzhaq Shai 6. How are sites chosen? Aren Maeir 7. Who decides who can dig and where? Chris McKinny 8. Why not dig the whole site? Aren Maeir 9. What is a survey and why use it? Joe Uziel 10. Why leave balks around squares? Oded Borowski 11. What is a locus? Tim Frank 12. What is a phase and a stratum? Eric Welch 13. Are there rules for excavating or special techniques? Chris McKinny 14. How are measurements taken and why? Eric Welch 15. Why sift and how often? Joe Uziel 16. How do you know what things to record? Seung Ho Bang 17. What if an animal got there first? Elizabeth R. Arnold Part 2: Artifacts, Architecture, and Dating 18. What is an artifact? Edward F. Maher 19. How do you identify an artifact and how it was used? Tim Frank 20. What can pottery tell us? Nava Panitz-Cohen 21. What do we Learn from Whole or Broken Pots? Jill Citron Katz 22. What Is primary vs. secondary use? Erin Darby 23. How is pottery processed during/after the excavation? Nava Panitz-Cohen 24. How can 3D imaging help? Tim Frank 25. How do you spot mudbrick walls? Amihai Mazar 26. How do you identify dirt floors? Oded Borowski 27. How do you identify dirt roads? Rafael Y. Lewis 28. How do you date things? Eric Welch 29. What is absolute or relative about dating? Jill Citron Katz 30. Where's the science in all this? Shira Gur-Arieh 31. What is carbon dating? Michael Dee 32. Can Bayesian statistics help pinpoint dating? Michael Dee 33. What Is Dendrochronology? Brita Lorentzen 34. What happens to all the data? Piotr Bienkowski Part 3: Types of Archaeology 35. What is Processual Archaeology? Sarah Kielt Costello 36. What is Post-Processual Archaeology? Sarah Kielt Costello 37. What is EthnoArchaeology? Jennie Ebeling 38. What is Experimental Archaeology? Jennie Ebeling 39. What is Household Archaeology? Cynthia Shafer-Elliott 40. What is Gender Archaeology? Cynthia Shafer-Elliott 41. How do you identify children in the archaeological record? Rona Avissar Lewis 42. What is Funerary Archaeology? Helen Dixon 43. How do you define cultic context? Jonathan S. Greer 44. How do you define ethnicity? Aaron Brody 45. What can we learn from the ancient environment? Elizabeth R. Arnold 46. What is Landscape Archaeology? Rafael Y. Lewis 47. What is MicroArchaeology? Deirdre N. Fulton 48. What do we learn from animal bones? Jonathan S. Greer 49. Why study garbage? Deirdre N. Fulton 50. What is ArchaeoMetallurgy? Naama Yahalom-Mack Part 4: Ethical Issues 51. What is kept and what Is not, and why? Leann Pace 52. Who owns the artifacts found? Leann Pace 53. How do artifacts end up In museums? Helen Dixon 54. How much looting takes place during or after a dig? Laura Wright 55. How is archaeology used to support nationalism? Erin Darby 56. It is ethical to dig in contested areas? Laura Wright

• Edited by Cynthia Shafer-Elliott

"I would highly recommend this book to those about to embark on the use of archaeology in their work as well as for teaching undergraduate classes which implement archaeological methods and/or sources." --Rebekahn Welton, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 41.5 "This is a book suited to anyone interested in archaeology anywhere in the world. [...]I recommend The 5 Minute Archaeologist in the Southern Levant to anyone with a general interest in archaeology." --Peter Peregrine, Lawrence University, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies Vol. 5, Nos. 3-4 (2017)
—