Trousson, Raymond / Vercruysse, Jeroom (dir.), Dictionnaire general de Voltaire. (Champion classiques, references et dictionnaires 18) 1272 p. 2020:10 (Champion, FR) <670-9>
ISBN 978-2-38096-016-7 paper ¥7,064.- (税込) EUR 38.00

Carman, John, Archaeological Practice as Politics and Ethics. 197 pp. 2024:8 (Springer, GW) <734-1315>
ISBN 978-3-031-69827-9 hard ¥30,598.- (税込) EUR 129.99

This book is of relevance to all archaeologists and all others concerned with how an interest in the past impacts on the present. This book explores the manner in which archaeology as a discipline and a field of endeavour contributes to the modern world. The focus throughout the book is on practices - the range of different things that archaeologists do and how they do and have done it in order to explore the field as a distinctive aspect of social practice over time. It also concerns the structures - social, political, economic, professional, philosophical - in which archaeology is performed and the consequences for the discipline and its practitioners. Throughout there is a concern especially with archaeology as a field of political and ethical decision-making, aspects well recognised by practitioners but rarely emphasised. The book both asks and answers questions about the perception of archaeology from both within and outside the field. The book draws widely on previous work by the author and others - looking at the techniques of the field, the people involved, the political and social impacts both on and by the field. In doing so it seeks to bring these different perspectives together to create a more holistic idea of what archaeology is, has been, and could be. The book is offered to those outside the field as a justification for archaeology - a field coming under increasing pressure from those who consider it (as so many humanities and social science disciplines) as an expensive luxury.

Fonseca, Sofia / Thomas, Ben / Basterrachea, Aurelia (eds.), New Ways of Communicating Archaeology in a Digital World. (Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology) 244 pp. 2024:11 (Springer, GW) <734-1316>
ISBN 978-3-031-71275-3 hard ¥25,890.- (税込) EUR 109.99

This book examines the communication and interaction between archaeologists and the non-archaeological public in a digital age. Moving beyond traditional methods, the book focuses on communication through new (YouTube, MOOCs, TEDx, etc.) and alternative media (virtual and augmented reality, video games, comics, etc.) that connect a traditional archaeological world to a modern digital one. By featuring case studies that make this point, the volume argues for the need to integrate new technologies and media like online education, storytelling, podcasting, and augmented and virtual reality into archaeologists' efforts to communicate their work to the broader society. Drawn from a session at the European Association of Archaeologists Annual Conference in 2018, the book was expanded and enhanced by the inclusion of presentations from the 2020 conference and additional invited papers. The volume presents a variety of approaches to archaeological education that highlight the need for creativity and resourcefulness in re-thinking archaeological presentations in a digital and virtual environment. This volume is of interest to archaeologists, as well as researchers and practitioners in museology and heritage and serves as a guide for archaeologists interested and involved in the world of non-academic communication. This book invites the reader to be part of a movement that is redefining the dialogue between our past and the future of communication, learning, and digital storytelling.

Gillette, Donna L. / Sanders, Thomas L. (Hrsg.), The Intersection of Sacredness and Archaeology. 350 pp. 2024:11 (Springer, GW) <734-1317>
ISBN 978-3-031-69776-0 hard ¥21,182.- (税込) EUR 89.99

Lipkin, Sanna / Bell, Taryn / Vaere, Tiina (eds.), Archaeologies of Attachment: Emotional Attachments in the Archaeological Record. (Themes in Contemporary Archaeology) 121 pp. 2024:9 (Springer, GW) <734-1319>
ISBN 978-3-031-66569-1 hard ¥30,598.- (税込) EUR 129.99

This edited volume offers a new approach to the study of emotion in the past, focusing on the experience of emotional attachment. Psychological research has demonstrated that all humans are capable of forming a variety of close social and emotional attachments from cradle to grave, yet archaeology has not, to date, considered the significance of these attachments in any detail. Inspired by Bowlby's theory of attachment, one of the key theories in developmental psychology over the last 60 years, this volume sheds light on what attachment is, how it functions, and how it has influenced human life and material culture from the Palaeolithic to the present. This volume brings together contributions from authors focusing on a variety of subjects related to attachment, from social relationships with people and animals, to places, to material culture, from the deepest reaches of prehistory to the contemporary era. It aims to improve our understanding of where and how archaeologists can look for evidence of these attachments, and in doing so, it helps us to consider how these shape our understanding of human behaviour, cognition and life more broadly. This volume is of interest to archaeologists and scholars of social attachment theory.

Matic, Uros / Gaydarska, B. / Coltofean, L. et al. (eds.), Gender Trouble and Current Archaeological Debates. (Themes in Contemporary Archaeology) 169 pp. 2024:12 (Springer, GW) <734-1320>
ISBN 978-3-031-68156-1 hard ¥35,306.- (税込) EUR 149.99

This volume challenges the status quo by addressing a selection of intensely discussed themes in contemporary archaeological practice from a gender perspective. It aims to demonstrate that gender is intrinsic to archaeology and that gender archaeology can enrich our studies, irrespective of the discipline's possible future directions and so-called paradigm shifts. The scholarly contributions commissioned for this volume critically discuss and reflect on a wide range of concepts, ideas, principles and theories presently applied in archaeology within the framework of gender. The chapters included in the first part deal with themes in world archaeology that have little or no focus on gender, such as the Third Science Revolution (e.g. ancient DNA, stable isotopes analyses, big data), posthumanism (e.g. new materialism, symmetrical archaeology and the ontological turn) and digital archaeology and heritage. The second part focuses on themes in which gender archaeology has made serious advances (intersectionality, social inequality, violence, mobility). The third part deals with themes crucial for contemporary archaeology and society, namely, gender education, gender representation in museum exhibitions and the future of gender archaeology. The volume concludes with a coda chapter that critically assesses the preceding contributions and the volume as a whole. The book offers a gender-balanced and inclusive authorship consisting of both well-established and early career researchers closely connected to the EAA, whose professionally, culturally and geographically diverse backgrounds and experiences enrich the viewpoints discussed in the chapters. The targeted audience is archaeologists from all theoretical and scientific backgrounds at all stages of their career.

Toffolo, Michael B., Infrared Spectroscopy of Archaeological Sediments. (Elements in Current Archaeological Tools and Techniques) 75 pp. 2024:11 (Cambridge U. Pr., UK) <734-1321>
ISBN 978-1-00-953297-6 hard ¥14,241.- (税込) GB￡ 49.99
ISBN 978-1-00-938756-9 paper ¥4,843.- (税込) GB￡ 17.00

Infrared spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between infrared radiation and matter. Its application to the characterization of archaeological sedimentary contexts has produced invaluable insights into the archaeological record and past human activities. This Element aims at providing a practical guide to infrared spectroscopy of archaeological sediments and their contents taken as a dynamic system, in which the different components observed today are the result of multiple formation processes that took place over long timescales. After laying out the history and fundamentals of the discipline, the author proposes a step-by-step methodological framework, both in the field and the laboratory, and guides the reader in the interpretation of infrared spectra of the main components of archaeological sediments with the aid of selected case studies. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Yardumian, Aram / Schurr, Theodore G., The Peopling of the Caucasus: Early Human Settlement at the Crossroads of Continents. 350 pp. 2024:12 (Cambridge U. Pr., UK) <734-1322>
ISBN 978-1-00-952023-2 hard ¥25,641.- (税込) GB￡ 90.00

Located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, the Caucasus region has played a critical role in the dissemination of languages, ideas, and cultures since prehistoric times. In this study, Aram Yardumian and Theodore Schurr explore the dispersal of human groups in the Caucasus beginning in the Palaeolithic period. Using evidence from archaeology, linguistics, and anthropological genetics, they trace changes in settlement patterns, cultural practices, and genetic variation. Highlighting the region's ecological diversity, natural resources, and agricultural productivity, Yardumian and Schurr reconstruct the timings and likely migration routes for human settlement following the Last Glacial Maximum, as well as the possible connections to regional economies for these expansions. Based on analysis of archaeological site reports, linguistic relationships, and genetic data previously published separately and in different languages, their synthesis of the most up to date evidence opens new vistas into the chronology and human dynamics of the Caucasus' prehistory.

Yvanez, Elsa / Wozniak, Magdalena M. (eds.), Funerary Textiles in Situ: Towards a Better Method for the Study of Textile-related Burial Practices. (Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology) 352 pp. 2024:11 (Springer, GW) <734-1323>
ISBN 978-3-031-69460-8 hard ¥30,598.- (税込) EUR 129.99

This book explores the role of textiles in death to investigate questions into how the body was prepared before the funeral, how the body was seen and perceived by its relatives and community, and the role of textiles in its metamorphosis into a deceased. The volume's geographic coverage is broad, encompassing areas where textile and skeletal conservation is optimal (the ancient Nile Valley) and areas where only minute fragments could be preserved adhering to metal objects. The case-studies cover Egypt, Sudan, Greece, the Iberian Peninsula, Scandinavia, and Central Europe, ranging from the 12th century BCE to the end of the 19th century CE. Going beyond this geohistorical frameworks, the book presents new methods for the study, retrieval and conservation of funerary textiles in situ during excavations. It offers useful tools for future research in both textile archaeology and bioarcheology and promote interdisciplinary collaborations between the two fields for a better understanding of burial practices. Contributors to this volume include experts from the fields of bioanthropology, archaeology, textile research and conservation. Chapters 8 and 13 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Kuzmin, Yaroslav, Across the Seas in Prehistoric Northeast Asia: Obsidian as a Commodity for the Study of Human Migrations. (The Science of Human History in Asia and the Pacific 2) 124 pp. 2024:12 (Springer, GW) <734-1001>
ISBN 978-981-9751-37-2 hard ¥32,952.- (税込) EUR 139.99

This book provides the current knowledge on prehistoric human contacts and migrations in Northeast Asia (consisting of far eastern Russia, Northeastern Siberia, Korea, Northeast China, and Japan), using obsidian as a commodity. The aim of this book is to reconstruct the patterns of prehistoric exchange and human movements in the Upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic of Northeast Asia. The proposed book is the first comprehensive summary of obsidian provenance and issues related to prehistoric human contacts/migrations and early seafaring in Northeast Asia. The particular importance of this book is that obsidian is used as a commodity to establish the movements of ancient people that is almost impossible to do using traditional archaeological approaches. The book contains updated information on the vast region with a multitude of obsidian sources and artefacts, based on the author's first-hand knowledge generated in the last 30+ years. It makes this book a unique source of information derived from Russian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese publications (as well as English summaries) for comparison between different parts of Northeast Asia.