Archaeology: An Introduction

My parents, John and Betty Greene, nurtured my early childhood passion for archaeology and have maintained their interest. My mother’s scientific training in biology opened my eyes to the natural setting of archaeological sites, and she was a useful scrutineer of my written style. My father’s career in psychiatric nursing acted as a useful reminder that compassion for the living should not be overlooked in the pursuit of the past. I have also learnt a lot from my brother, Patrick, who followed a very different path through archaeology that eventually led to the directorship of The Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. I thank my wife Julia both for stylistic advice and—along with our three children—for help, support and forbearance during another Great Rewriting.

Many individuals have shaped my outlook upon archaeology. Among early influences were directors of excavations at Lydford (Peter Addyman) and Fishbourne (Barry Cunliffe), and lecturers in the Department of Archaeology at University College, Cardiff (notably Bill Manning and Leslie Alcock). Current and former colleagues in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Newcastle have enhanced my awareness of developments in archaeological method and theory; John Chapman, Ruth Charles, Jim Crow, Mark Gillings, Jan Harding and Chris Tolan-Smith deserve special mention, along with the late George Jobey. I am also indebted to Newcastle University’s Robinson Library and Cowen Library; elsewhere in Newcastle, the gracious neo-classical surroundings of the Literary and Philosophical Society provided a perfect place for revising drafts of chapters well away from my office, computer and telephone.

Routledge acquired this title from Batsford in 1996; particular thanks go to Vicky Peters for commissioning a new edition, and to Moira Taylor and Julene Barnes for seeing it through to completion. I will miss their regular e-mails checking that I am still on schedule. A number of people read chapters for Routledge (some anonymously, although I could usually guess who they were). Sara Champion made constructive comments on the book proposal but her death prevented me from taking advantage of her encouragement and offer of further help. Readers of draft chapters included Ian Bailiff, Ian Baxter, John Bintliff, Mark Bowden, Don Henson, Cornelius Holtorf, Rupert Housley, Mark Gillings, Julian Henderson, and Gavin Lucas; thanks to any others whom I have failed to identify. I doubt whether I have incorporated all of their suggestions to their full satisfaction. Several current and former colleagues and students also read chapters for me, including Sarah Groves, Neil Holbrook, Clifford Jones, Christine Martinez, Nicky Milner and Carolyn Ware; Tony and Anna Flowers commented from a non-archaeological perspective and gave advice about book design.

Frances Mawer read my final draft and corrected many stylistic errors and inconsistencies. She also put in many hours of flawless bibliographical data-entry in recent years; I could not have updated this book without a keyworded database of more than 12,000 publications. Much of this information was compiled from Antiquity’s ‘Among the new books’ section and the

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