HOW TO USE THIS ELECTRONIC RESOURCE

I converted my book's table of contents into an HTML script to provide a framework for adding relevant URLs as I become aware of them (please send me details of any that you think should be included). I then added short explanatory extracts from my text, with page references to the published source. Obviously, not all of the book's chapter and section headings have directly useful WWW links, but I have left them in place to allow additions. If you use or own the book, you will know its layout, and can go straight to the list of chapters below; if not, you can look at a full listing of the Table of contents and then return to this page to select the chapter you wish to explore.

• If you are new to using the Internet, and want a crystal-clear explanation of its pros and cons, read Archaeology on the Internet, a Web-based article based on a talk given to the Oxford University Archaeological Society by Dr Jonathan Moffett (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford).

LIST OF CHAPTER TITLES:

Simply click on a chapter title to jump to the relevant file!

THE IDEA OF THE PAST

How the concerns of modern archaeologists developed in the past - human origins; the recognition of human tools; the recording of ancient sites; the investigation of early civilizations.

DISCOVERY, FIELDWORK AND RECORDING

Non-destructive ways of looking at sites in their local and regional settings.

EXCAVATION

This chapter not only explains how excavation is conducted, but also emphasises the background work that precedes it, and the time-consuming processing of site records and finds for publication.

DATING THE PAST

Dating is the key to organising all archaeological evidence; the development of dating methods, whether 'traditional' or scientific, illustrates the ingenuity of archaeological problem-solving.

SCIENCE AND ARCHAEOLOGY

There are few questions about the past that would not benefit from investigation with the help of the natural or biological sciences; indeed, many questions may only be answered with the assistance of scientific methods.

MAKING SENSE OF THE PAST

Are we simply making what we want of the past because we can do nothing about the present, let alone change the future?

SOME ADDITIONAL RESOURCES...

A rag-bag of general resources, plus others that did not fit into this 'electronic companion'. NB: If you have an idea of what it is that you are looking for try Google!, a search-engine that will allow you to make searches using simple keywords.

1. INDEX