A Practical Handbook of Archaeology: A Beginner's Guide to Unearthing the Past

I wanted a book that walked me through the thought and physical process of the practice of archaeology. This is it in an easy to understand format with photos and diagrams. It is as advertised, a practical handbook. I knew nothing about how a dig went from "hey there might be something here" to planning, organizing, laying out, and working a dig. Now I feel I have a wealth of information about the entire process including documenting and preserving the artifacts found. It may not be in depth enough for someone who has studied archaeology, but for a novice like me, it is fantastic. Even someone who knows what they are doing might find this a valuable quick reference guide just to refresh their memory on such areas as legality, process, and preservation of the timeline.

This book was a Christmas present to my 8 year old grandson who has told me he might want to become an archaeologist. He devoured the book. It is written with lots of photos or drawings so that an elementary school child can enjoy it, but it is also written for children to develop their vocabulary and critical thinking skills. In short, it is likely not a child's book, but interested children will enjoy it and learn a lot from it.

Very accessible overview of all phases of archaeological practice broken down into well illustrated two page spreads. It won't take the place of actually doing the work, participating on digs, etc., but it packs a lot into its 120 large format pages. It does a better job of discussing field practices than it does in raising issues or conflicting viewpoints in archaeology, but there are other resources out there that do a good job with that. If you are an amateur and you are looking forward to your first dig, this will give you an excellent sense of the kinds of work you are likely to be doing.

I think this was a good gift for Christmas; I have not heard from the father, yet.(He was at Christmas gathering and lives a distance a way.)

Bought this for my 9yr old son who loves finding things in our yard with his metal detector. He absolutely loves the book.

Perfect for my granddaughter

My grandson loved it! He's an archeologist in training and has every book possible thru his 8 years on this earth! He was so excited to see this book! He started reading it right away!

My nephew loved it

Not what I had hoped for. No real information as I assumed there would be from the write up.

I love this book and perfect if you want to know ALL about field archealogy. It's laid out and written in simple informative way and your knowledge really builds with each chapter.

The dust cover for the book was damaged on delivery; torn and folded. I also noticed the bottom of the spine was dented slightly. I can't be certain that the book was brand new.

A wonderful introduction to archaeology and a great read, everything you need to know or want to know is here.If you are starting out or aiming to dig up your back garden, then this book is for you, you can't go wrong.

Another brilliant book on archaeology with very good tips. A book in which I will constantly refer to and read many times.