Carver, M. 2009. Archaeological Investigation – London/New York, Routledge

Abstract

I must admit I had my prejudices reading this new publication of Martin Carver. Another archaeological guide, which was moreover “the best book in the English language for fi fty years” according to Richard Hodges of the University of Pennsylvania. Don’t we have enough of those books? From Wheeler’s ‘Archaeology from the Earth’, till Renfrew & Bahn’s ‘Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice’, they all try to be complete, objective, critical and infl uential. And in the end they never were, at least not without revising and reprinting regularly. It seems a myth that world’s archaeology is to be described in one publication, including un-endless types of fi nd spots, un-endless ways of approaches and un-endless ways of interpretations. You would never try to write a book about the animals of the world with the intention to be complete, would you? So, why trying to summarize archaeological investigation?