A theory of human evolution and history based on ever-increasing mutual dependency between humans and things In this engaging exploration, archaeologist Ian Hodder departs from the two prevailing modes of thought about human evolution: the older idea of constant advancement toward a civilized ideal and the newer one of a directionless process of natural selection. Instead, he proposes a theory of human evolution and history based on “entanglement,” the ever-increasing mutual dependency between humans and things. Not only do humans become dependent on things, Hodder asserts, but things become dependent on humans, requiring an endless succession of new innovations. It is this mutual dependency that creates the dominant trend in both cultural and genetic evolution. He selects a small number of cases, ranging in significance from the invention of the wheel down to Christmas tree lights, to show how entanglement has created webs of human-thing dependency that encircle the world and limit our responses to global crises.

Where Are We Heading?: The Evolution of Humans and Things (Foundational Questions in Science)

Politics & Social Sciences

Hodder, Ian

Anthropology

Yale University Press

This book aims to show through a series of examples that an interpretative archaeology dealing with past meanings can be applied in practice to archaeological data, and that it can also contribute effectively to modern social practice.Seven of the nineteen papers included have been specifically written for this volume to act as an overview of the way archaeology has developed over the last ten years. Yet Ian Hodder goes beyond this: he aims to break down the separation of theory and practice and to reconcile the division between the intellectual and the 'dirt' archaeologist. Faced with public controversy over the ownership and interpretation of the past, archaeology ungently needs a clear image of itself, able to gain funding, win public confidence and manage the heritage professionally yet sensitively. This image, however, is often clouded by the theory/practice debate, a division all too often encouraged by the separation of universities and heritage management. Hodder emphasises the importance of finding the right balance. Archaeologists, he asserts, cannot afford to ignore general theory in favour of practice any more than they can afford to shut themselves away in intellectual ivory towers. Theoretical debate is important to any discipline, particularly in archaeology if it is not to become complacent, self-interested and uncritical.Theory and Practice in Archaeology captures and extends the lively debate of the 1980s over symbolic and structural approaches to archaeology. It will be essential reading for students of archaeology and for those involved in and responsible for heritage management.

Theory and Practice in Archaeology (Material Cultures)

History

World

Routledge

In this latest collection of his articles, of which seven are written especially for this volume, Ian Hodder captures and continues the lively controversy of the 1980s over symbolic and structural approaches to archaeology. The book acts as an overview of the developments in the discipline over the last decade; yet Hodder's brief is far wider. His aim is to break down the division between the intellectual and the "dirt" archaeologist to demonstrate that in this discipline more than any other, theory must be related to practice to save effectively our rapidly diminishing heritage.

Business & Money

Insurance

Entangled: An Archaeology of the Relationships between Humans and Things

A powerful and innovative argument that explores the complexity of the human relationship with material things, demonstrating how humans and societies are entrapped into the maintenance and sustaining of material worlds 
<ul>
<li>Argues that the interrelationship of humans and things is a defining characteristic of human history and culture</li> <li>Offers a nuanced argument that values the physical processes of things without succumbing to materialism</li> <li>Discusses historical and modern examples, using evolutionary theory to show how long-standing entanglements are irreversible and increase in scale and complexity over time</li> <li>Integrates aspects of a diverse array of contemporary theories in archaeology and related natural and biological sciences</li> <li>Provides a critical review of many of the key contemporary perspectives from materiality, material culture studies and phenomenology to evolutionary theory, behavioral archaeology, cognitive archaeology, human behavioral ecology, Actor Network Theory and complexity theory</li> </ul>

Archaeology

Wiley/Blackwell

A firsthand account of the discoveries at this seminal ancient site in Turkey, one of the first farming settlements in history. Çatalhöyük, in central Turkey, became internationally famous in the 1960s when an ancient town—thought to be the oldest in the world—was discovered there together with wonderful wall paintings and animals, including leopards, sculpted in high relief. The archaeological finds included the remains of textiles, plants, and animals, and some female terra-cotta figures that suggested the existence of a "mother goddess" cult. The initial excavation was interrupted in 1965, and answers to the riddles of this Neolithic site remained unresolved until Ian Hodder initiated a new campaign of research in the 1990s. Described by Colin Renfrew as "one of the most ambitious excavation projects currently in progress, undertaken at one of the world's great archaeological sites," this has been a truly multidisciplinary undertaking, involving the participation of over one hundred archaeologists, scientists, and specialists. Hodder and his colleagues have established that this great site, dating back some 9,000 years, provides the key to understanding the most important change in human existence—the time when people moved into villages and towns, adopted farming as a way of life, and began to accept domination of one social group by another. Through meticulous excavation procedures and laboratory analyses, they peel back the layers of history to reveal how people lived and died and how they engaged with one another, with their environment, and with the spirit world. Full of insights into past lives and momentous events, The Leopard's Tale is superbly illustrated with images of the art, the excavations, and the people involved in this world-famous dig.

The Leopard's Tale: Revealing the Mysteries of Catalhoyuk

Thames&Hudson

The Neolithic mound of C¸atalho¨yu¨k became internationally famous in the 1960s when an ancient town―one of the oldest in the world―was discovered together with wonderful wall paintings and sculptures, many featuring images of leopards. The excavations changed our under- standing of the early farmers who started the road to complex civilization, but many questions were left unanswered until the early 1990s when new research began under the direction of Ian Hodder. The book begins with a puzzle: leopards are a central part of C¸atalho¨yu¨k’s art, but virtually none of their remains have been found. In solving this mystery, the reader is led into the elaborate social and symbolic world of C¸atalho¨yu¨k―a world where people were buried beneath the floors of houses, later to be exhumed and decapitated, and the head handed down from generation to generation. This lively firsthand account of a major archaeological site is full of insights into past lives and momentous events, and is richly illustrated with images of the art, the artifacts, and the excavations themselves. 24 full-color and 113 black-and-white illustrations

The Leopard's Tale: Revealing the Mysteries of Çatalhöyük

Reference

Reading the Past, Third Edition: Current Approaches to Interpretation in Archaeology

Reading the Past: Current Approaches to Interpretation in Archaeology

The third edition of this classic introduction to archaeological theory and method has been fully updated to address the rapid development of theoretical debate throughout the discipline. Ian Hodder and Scott Hutson argue that archaeologists must consider a variety of perspectives in the complex and uncertain task of "translating the meaning of past texts into their own contemporary language". While remaining centered on the importance of meaning, agency and history, the authors explore the latest developments in post-structuralism, neo-evolutionary theory and phenomenology. Previous Edition Hb (1991): 0-521-40142-9 Previous Edition Pb (1991): 0-521-40957-8

Hutson, Scott

Cambridge University Press

Material culture - the objects made by man - provides the primary data from which archaeologists have to infer the economies, technologies, social organization and ritual practices of extinct societies. The analysis and interpretation ofmaterial culture is therefore central to any concern with archaeological theory and methodology, and in order to understand better the relationship between material culture and human behaviour, archaeologists need to draw upon models derived from the study of ethnographic societies. First published in 1982, this book presents the results of a series of field investigations carried out in Kenya, Zambia and the Sudan into the 'archaeological' remains and material culture of contemporary small-scale societies, and demonstrates the way in which objects are used as symbols within social action and within particular world views and ideologies.

Symbols in Action: Ethnoarchaeological Studies of Material Culture (New Studies in Archaeology)

Africa

In marked contrast with the anthropological and cross-cultural approaches that featured so prominently in archaeological research this contributory volume emphasises the archaeological significance of historical method and philosophy. Drawing particularly on the work of R. G. Collingwood, the contributors show that the notion of 'history seen from within' is a viable approach that can be applied in ethnoarchaeology and in both historic and prehistoric archaeology. There is a discussion of short, medium and long-term historical structures in relation to social events generating observed material culture patterning. Examination of the relationship between structure and event within historical contexts leads to insights into the interdependence of continuity and change, and into the nature of widely recognised processes such as acculturation, diffusion and migration.

Archaeology as Long-Term History (New Directions in Archaeology)

Ancient Civilizations

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hodder, Ian. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hodder, Ian

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hodder, Ian. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Where Are We Heading?: The Evolution of Humans and Things (Foundational Questions in Science)

Theory and Practice in Archaeology (Material Cultures)

Theory and Practice in Archaeology (Material Cultures)

Entangled: An Archaeology of the Relationships between Humans and Things

Entangled: An Archaeology of the Relationships between Humans and Things

The Leopard's Tale: Revealing the Mysteries of Catalhoyuk

The Leopard's Tale: Revealing the Mysteries of Çatalhöyük

Reading the Past: Current Approaches to Interpretation in Archaeology

Symbols in Action: Ethnoarchaeological Studies of Material Culture (New Studies in Archaeology)

Archaeology as Long-Term History (New Directions in Archaeology)