The time to make textbook decisions for the 2007/2008 academic year is
approaching!  It’s also time to start planning those classes! Left Coast
Press, Inc. has several excellent new books to serve as textbooks for your
courses, as well as resources to aid and improve your teaching! Copies are
available on an examination basis for college instructors. Details on our
examination policy and ordering information are below.  Visit our website at
www.LCoastPress.com <http://www.lcoastpress.com/> .

 

 

For your courses:

The Archaeological Survey Manual

Gregory G. White and Thomas F. King

Published January 2007, 184 pages, $29.95 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59874-009-7

Course: Field Methods

 

This concise, well-written book provides a handy introduction to students on
the strategies, methods, and logic of contemporary survey work. In addition
to providing the legal and historical context for this endeavor the book
provides a heavily illustrated, practical guide to conducting a survey to
help beginners understand how it works in practice. This volume is perfect
for an archaeological methods class or field school.

 

Doing Archaeology: A Cultural Resource Management Perspective

Thomas F. King

Published August 2005, 160 pages, $21.95 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59874-003-5

Course: Introduction to Archaeology, CRM

 

What is archaeology, and why should we do it? Tom King, arguably the
best-known heritage management consultant in the United States, answers the
basic question of every introductory student from the unique perspective of
one who actively uses archaeology for cultural resource management. King
shows how contemporary archaeology, as part of the larger cultural resource
management endeavor, acts to help preserve and protect prehistoric and
historic sites in the United States and elsewhere. An ideal ice-breaker for
introductory college classes in archaeology, one that will get students
engaged in the subject and thinking about its challenges

 

Stone Mirror: A Novel of the Neolithic

Rob Swigart

Published April 2007, 256 pages, $21.95 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59874-017-2

Excerpt available at http://www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=80


Course: Intro, World Prehistory


 

A large obsidian mirror is found by a Turkish farmer on top of a mound. How
did it get there? What does it mean, for then and now? In this teaching
novel by writer Rob Swigart, the story toggles back and forth between the
story of a Neolithic village-- and the changing fortunes of the family who
find this wondrous tool-- and a tale of modern archaeologists whose
excavated finds stir journalists, governments, and goddess worshippers
alike. In doing so, Swigart’s novel provides both a basic reconstruction of
Neolithic lifeways and a primer of contemporary archaeological politics and
practice. For students in introductory archaeology classes, courses on the
Neolithic, or on ethical issues, Stone Mirror will be a fun, informative
introduction both to archaeology and to the people archaeologists study.

 

Inauthentic Archaeologies: Public Uses and Abuses of the Past

Troy Lovata

Published January 2007, 160 pages, $21.95 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59874-011-0

Course: Intro, Archaeology/Pseudoarchaeology, Public Archaeology

 

In this concise, student-friendly look at the public appropriation of
archaeology, Troy Lovata examines outright hoaxes, fanciful re-creations,
artistic representations, commercial enterprises, and discredited replicas
of the past. The book explores examples from around the world and across
time to help readers understand how the past becomes social currency for
both professional archaeologists and the public at large. Lovata addresses
central questions of authenticity, ownership of the past, and the use of
archaeology by everyone from artists to multinational corporations.  Student
exercises, cartoons, interviews, and illustrations add to the pedagogical
value of this concise, fascinating work for students in introductory
archaeology classes.

 

The Goddess and the Bull

Çatalhöyük: An Archaeological Journey to the Dawn of Civilization

Michael Balter

Published March 2006, 400 pages, $19.95 (Paperback)

978-1-59874-069

Course: Intro, Archaeological Theory, Public Archaeology, Near East
Archaeology, Prehistory

 

Veteran science writer Michael Balter skillfully weaves together many
threads in this fascinating book about one of archaeology’s most legendary
sites— Çatalhöyük. First excavated forty years ago, the site is justly
revered by prehistorians, art historians, and New Age goddess worshippers
alike for its spectacular finds dating almost 10,000 years ago.
Archaeological maverick Ian Hodder, leader of the recent re-excavation at
this Turkish mound, designated Balter as the project’s biographer. The
result is a skillful telling of many stories about both past and present.
Part story of the human past, part soap opera of modern scholarly life, part
textbook on the practice of modern archaeology and archaeological theory,
this book should appeal to general readers and archaeological students
alike.

 

Historical Archaeology: Why the Past Matters

Barbara J. Little

Published January 2007, 216 pages, $22.95 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59874-023-3

Course: Historical Archaeology

 

What is historical archaeology and why is it important? Well-known
archaeologist Barbara Little addresses these key questions for introductory
students in this concise, inexpensive, and well-written text. Little covers
the goals of historical archaeological work, the kinds of questions it asks,
and the ethical and political concerns it raises. She shows what historical
archaeology can provide that neither of its parent disciplines can offer
alone.  As an introductory guide for historical archaeology and similar
courses, this volume is unmatched in quality and scope.

 

Introduction to Rock Art Research

David S. Whitley

Published September 2005, 160 pages, 24.95 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59874-001-1

Course: Rock Art, Field Methods

 

Once a stepchild of archaeology, rock art research has become increasingly
important tool in recent archaeological work for understanding the symbolic
and ideological systems of ancient peoples. Yet, methods of working with
pictographs, petroglyphs and geoglyphs are rarely taught in a systematic
fashion. In this brief introduction to methods well-known rock art
researcher David Whitley takes the reader through the various processes
needed to document, interpret, and preserve this fragile category of
artifact. 

 

Archaeology and Women: Ancient and Modern Issues

Sue Hamilton, Ruth Whitehouse, and Katherine I. Wright, editors

Published May 2007, 416 pages, $34.95 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59874-224-4

Course: Gender in Archaeology

 

 This book addresses both issues of women in the contemporary profession of
archaeology and studies of women’s roles in the ancient world.   . The
geographical and chronological range of these papers is intentionally wide,
from Southeast Asia and South America to Western Asia, Egypt and Europe,
from Great Britain to Greece, and from 10,000 years ago to the recent past.
This book is an ideal sampler for courses dealing with women and
archaeology.

 

Box Office Archaeology: Refining Hollywood’s Portrayals of the Past

Julie M. Schlabitsky, Editor

Published April 2007, 256 pages, $24.95 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59874-056-1

Course: Intro, Public Archaeology, Archaeology and Media, Historical
Archaeology

 

“How true is it?” is a common refrain of patrons coming out of movie
theatres after the latest film on pirates, Vikings, or mummies. While
Hollywood usurps the past for its own entertainment purposes, archaeologists
and historians know a lot about many of these subjects, digging up stories
often more fascinating than the ones projected on screen. Archaeologists
select key subjects and genres used by Hollywood and provide the historical
and archaeological depth that a movie cannot--what really happened in
history. Topics include Egypt, the Wild West, Civil War submarines, Vikings,
the Titanic, and others.

 

Archaeology is a Brand: The Meaning of Archaeology in Contemporary Popular
Culture

Cornelius Holtorf

Published April 2007, 200 pages, $24.95 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59874-179-7

Course: Archaeology and Media, Public Archaeology

 

Archaeology is a regular feature in daily life and popular culture—what is
the impact of this fact on the field? To answer this question, Cornelius
Holtorf examines and compares media portrayals of archaeology in England,
Germany, Sweden and the USA. He also analyses the gaps between media
presentations and audience knowledge and attraction to the subject. In his
inviting, populist style, Holtorf discusses strategies with which
archaeologists can engage with popular representations of themselves and
their profession. 

 

Resources for the Classroom:

The Potters of Buur Heybe, Somalia

Steven Brandt and Tara Belkin

Published September 2006, 25 minute video with 4-page insert, $79.95 (DVD)

DVD ISBN: 978-1-59874-118-6

Use discount code Lo87 for instructor discount price, $49.95

 

Now available on DVD at a considerably reduced price, this award-winning
ethnoarchaeological film documents the complete sequence of pottery
production and use at Buur Heybe, “The Hill of the Potter’s Sand”, in
southern Somalia. The Potters of Buur Heybe portrays the complete life cycle
of earthenware pottery manufacture and use, places the pottery in its social
and economic context, and considers the roles of gender, symbolism, agency
and religion in the process.  Short, technologically fascinating, and
ethnographically rich, Potters of Buur Heybe is an excellent film for both
undergraduate and graduate courses in anthropology and archaeology,
including methods, technology, material culture, ethnography, and arts.

 

Woman the Toolmaker: Hideworking and Stone Tool Use in Konso, Ethiopia

Steven Brandt, Kathryn Weedman, and Tara Belkin

Published September 2006, 25 minute video with 4-page insert, $79.95 (DVD)

DVD ISBN: 978-1-59874-119-3

Use discount code Lo87 for instructor discount price, $49.95

 

Woman the Toolmaker portrays the remarkable lives of a group of Konso hide
workers from southern Ethiopia who may be the last people in the world to
make and use flaked stone tools on a regular basis. Unlike the “Man the
Toolmaker” stereotype, virtually all of the Konso hide workers are women who
as young girls learn flintknapping skills from their mothers or other female
relatives. The complete life cycle of making and using flaked stone
artifacts is documented in this ethnoarchaeological portrait of Konso women
scraping hides to produce soft leather products for bedding, bags, drums,
and even ritual clothing.  This unique video is an excellent addition to
both undergraduate and graduate courses in anthropology, archaeology, and
women’s studies, including material culture, technology, methods, and
ethnography.

 

The Art and Craft of College Teaching: A Guide for New Professors and
Graduate Students

Robert Rotenberg

Published January 2007, 328 pages, $24.95 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59874-159-9

 

This book provides a hands-on, quick-start guide to the complexities of the
college classroom for instructors in their first five years of teaching
independently. The chapters survey the existing literature on how to
effectively teach young adults, offering specific solutions to the most
commonly faced classroom dilemmas. A focus on the choices made during the
design of the course helps the instructor coordinate their class with a
department or college curriculum. An extensive discussion of the
relationship between classroom design and class size, as well as tips of
assessment and grading, enable the new instructor to better handle the
challenges of contemporary college classrooms.

 

Archaeology to Delight and Instruct: Active Learning in the University
Classroom

Heather Burke and Claire Smith

Published January 2007, 288 pages, $29.95 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59874-257-2

 

This book presents novel and interesting ways of teaching archaeological
concepts and processes to college and university students. Seeking
alternatives to the formal lecture format, the various contributions seek
better ways of communicating the complexities of human behavior and of
engaging students in active learning about the past. This collection of
imaginative exercises designed by 20 master instructors on three continents,
include role-playing, games, simulations, activities, and performance, all
designed to teach archaeological concepts in interesting and engaging ways.

 

 

To request an examination copy of textbooks or to order other materials,
visit our website at:

http://www.lcoastpress.com <http://www.lcoastpress.com/>  

We invite you to request up to three books to review for class adoption.
Books will be sent on a 90-day examination basis and invoiced at a 10%
discount. Please supply a MasterCard, American Express, or Visa number,
expiration date, and phone number. Also let us know the name of your
university and the course for which you are considering the book, when it's
taught, how many students you expect, what texts you’re currently using, and
when you need to make your decision. If after 90 days we have not received
evidence of adoption (a bookstore order for a minimum of 10 copies) or
return of the book in salable condition, we will bill your credit card for
purchase of the book.

All web orders receive a 15% discount!!

For more information, contact Caryn Berg at [log in to unmask]