Rethinking Wetland Archeology

The relevance and practicality of wetland archaeology has come under criticism from many voices in mainstream archaeology, say the authors, both UK-based wetland archaeologists. In this book, they suggest an agenda for redirecting the discipline in order to integrate it into broader geographical, cultural, and theoretical frameworks. They describe important discoveries and figures, illustrate wetlands' contributions in the study of landscapes, and assess deficient theories including those favoring "dryland" populations while overlooking the possibility of communities that lived and worked in bogs and marshes. Finally, a discussion of politics and practice in wetlands archaeology portray the challenges to establishing the discipline's credibility and how its practitioners may do so. Distributed by International Publishers Marketing. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)